An Alien Walks Amongst Us
by Hazardus-Havard
Summary: Lyra, a simple pony with simple dreams. Dreams involving aliens, that is. Her fascination with them even got her a job dealing with them, though no one takes it seriously. In comes a human, whom mysteriously gets transported to Equestria. It's up to Lyra to show the alien the ways of her people! The power of friendship, magic and hugs await her on this strange adventure.
1. Prologue - You Just Have To Believe

Where are you?

You can't remember much. You feel a tight pressure on you, like you're being suffocated. It's dark, hard to see anything. Only moments ago, you felt… fear? Yes, fear. You're afraid of something, but what? Alas, there's no fear here. No, you left that behind.

Wait, where are you? Maybe you should open your eyes? They feel glued together, refusing to open. You force them to peel apart; you need to see where you are.

White.

There's so much white surrounding you. It's obnoxiously bright; you wish there is some way to turn it down. Looking around, you see nothing but more of the same bright light surrounding you. You feel it's directing you somewhere though, someplace different. Different? But… where were you before you got here? Try and remember, try… Yes, you remember things now. It's slow, like thick, dark sludge making its way into your head. But you're remembering.

You're…You are Anon.

You were working for a boat. No wait, you were working _on_ a boat. With someone named… Gleekman. Little flashes of something blur by. They seem like memories to you. Struggling, you force yourself to remember.

Remember.

You're… on a boat now. Everything slowly comes back to you as you relive your memory. Right now, you're on a ship near where an oil company set up shop. The ship you are on is painted yellow all around to get the attention of anyone passing by, as a way to get the media's attention.

The media's been watching your group for a good while now, protesting the oil drill. With the information your group gathered, you all started travelling through the chains of many governments to stop this from happening.

There are only two members here from the group, you being one of them, on this ship. The only reason this ship's out here was to remind everyone that people do care what's happening. You're the main piece of that reminder.

"Hey, Anon. Still watching the money-grubbing bastards over there?"

You sigh after hearing that damn man's voice. Gleekman... That stupid man kept getting arrested at nearly every place he went. His words are sharp and he's quite rude, and to top it off, he's prone to violence, the type of violence that's not so much fun to deal with afterwards.

Luckily, he hasn't hurt anyone, so far, but the property damage he goes through is pretty damn high, meaning the group has to pay for those damages after each incident. You do have to admit, the media scooped up those stories pretty quickly. He's only here because you need to keep an eye on him, while the rest of the more influential people in the group go off to different governments to prolong this oil drill from happening.

"Hey, Gleek. I'm just trying to get some air out here."

"A bit hard to do with these fuckers here, putting more and more shit in the air, don't you think?"

A glance over to his side shows he's leaning on the same railing you are as he glares out at the ships across from where you are.

"Smug, stupid bastards, destroying shit and hurting all those creatures in the ocean. But I've got something for them, something to get them out of here for good."

"Gleek, you better not be planning something. We've already got things handled for this. We don't want another incident with you here."

He turns to you, his entire face wiped clean of anything readable, giving you a thousand yard stare. You can see his focus come back in as he stares at you once more.

"Heh, don't you worry 'bout nothing, Anon. There's nothing to worry about here… no one will ever again after tonight," he spoke so quietly you almost missed that part.

Gleekman stares out at the ships for a few more moments before walking away, presumably back to his cabin for the rest of the day. It's getting dark, with the only lights out in this cold place coming from the ships. You know you have to keep an eye on him, there's no telling what his stupidity will come to this time. You don't want him painting feces on their ships like he did to the PETA headquarters. Fuck, you laughed hard though when he did that. Gleekman sure is stupid, but not insane. Surely whatever he has planned, he wouldn't do anything too outrageous, right?

…You're back inside that white stream of nothingness. Just why was that memory so important? Was it somehow relevant to where you are now? Past memories start coming back to you, things you remember from so long ago. Events you remember from your childhood, going to school, your first date. You're not sure why you're remembering all this stuff. They don't seem as important to the boat memory your mind's still trying to come around to.

You need to remember why you're here, what caused this. Go back to the boat memory... It feels extremely important. Yes, it's becoming clearer now. You see yourself back at the boat…

…You're sitting inside your cabin now, reading a book for relaxation. It's a book of stories your mom would tell you when you were still a child. They're still fun to reread. They remind you of your little adventures you used to have with mythical beasts. Sadly, you're interrupted when you hear a loud clunk outside your door. Just what was that?

Opening your cabin door, you see Gleekman carrying something extremely large. He's having trouble keeping it in his arms. How did he get that on the ship without anyone noticing? You see Gleeks is sweating bullets, trying to hold the large object without dropping it. You better follow him to make sure he doesn't pull anything _really_ stupid this time

…You've been following Gleekman for the a few minutes, making sure he doesn't see you. It's difficult, with his paranoia of everything. You somehow lost him around one of the cabins in your ship, and now you're doing your best to find him. The guy must be setting up whatever he was trying to do by now. Just what is he planning?

If Gleekman does anything stupid, it might fuck everything up. You need to look good for this protest, and even a small incident can be blown out of proportion. Quickly running around the deck of the ship, you finally find Gleeks on the flight deck, setting something up. _Dear god it's large, how the hell did he get that on here?!_

"Gleek!" you yell.

It startles the man, making him bump the object and tilt it sideways. He screams out before grabbing it and sitting it back upright. "You stupid bastard, Anon! You almost fucked us both _and _my plans!"

"What exactly are you doing, Gleeks?"

"Why, I'm fixing the problem here! No oil people, no drilling, right?"

Furrowing your brow at his reply, you look more closely at the object. You feel the blood drain from your face. Is that a fucking missile!

"Is that a fucking missile!" you scream at him.

He chuckles at your words, turning back to the object. You can barely see the object. It looks like one of those horrible, Hollywood movie missiles.

"Good eye, Anon, but this ain't no ordinary missile. No siiireeee bob, it ain't! No, this thing, I got it from an... outside source. Had it made up to destroy something massive, with the power of over six thousand sticks of dynamite, along with some experimental chemicals and strange shit put in it for an extra kicker!"

Your breath is caught in your throat, hearing that. That damn thing could completely destroy the ships and kill all the workers if he detonates that thing!

"Gleeks, you need… to stop… what you're doing…" You inch towards the man, thinking maybe you can stop the stupid bastard by jumping him, just in case he gets the stupid idea to turn it on. "We're in talks with the UN right now, the _actual _UN. We're doing good bud; we don't need to resort to violence here."

You can barely see with how dark it is, but you can tell his face scrunched up and his teeth are bared after hearing that.

"The UN… the fucking UN?! What good are they if all they have is people paying them to do as they say? No, this'll get rid of them, and it'll also prove that we'll do anything to make sure the environment, the animals, and everyone's safe from bastards like these." He turns to you and gives you the craziest face you've seen on damn near anyone. "At any cost," he adds with a terrifying finality.

This has to be a fucking nightmare... Why is this happening when everything's going so damn well? Fucking Gleeks, why does his paranoid state have to come with you to this ship? Doesn't he ever stop to see the big picture, just for a second?!

He's going to destroy your group's chance of stopping this drill from going on, his actions will have the both of you imprisoned, and worst of all, they'll put your group on the damn terrorist list after this! Gleekman has his hand on the panel, staring at you with a toothy grin before turning his gaze to the ships and workers out across from your location.

"Say goodnight, you pompous, money-grubbing bastards!"

Gleeks presses something on the panel, forcing the missile to glow with lights, initiating its start off. The stupid thing looks so much like a movie prop, it's sad to think this was built to cause death and destruction.

You're not sure why you did it, maybe it was from you panicking or the adrenaline coursing through you, but your actions almost felt like instinct, like this is meant to happen. Of all the things you could've done, you fucking run and jump on the missile as it's taking off, forcing you along for the ride. How the fuck is this thing even slightly airborne in the first place with your weight? No matter, it's barely skimming the water now trying its best to get in the sky.

Shit, it's still on course and headed to its target. How do you stop a missile like this anyways? Looking at it is hard with the wind buffeting you about, almost knocking you off. You see it has those wing flaps on the end of it, probably for direction and stability, but you can't say for sure. Kicking one as hard as you can, it barely bends at a different angle. It's enough to wobble the missile off course, sending it straight down plummeting into the ocean, you attached along for the ride.

Your pants leg is stuck on the tail you just kicked, and with no way out, you're forced to continue your ride with this tool of death. You can feel your lungs struggling to get some air into them. The pressure was starting to become unbearable. The thing continues moving until the thrusters sputter out, though it continues its forward from momentum.

It's still glowing with lights from what you can barely see, still activated to blow. Time seems to have slowed down as you look around, your death imminent from your actions. At least you stopped Gleeks from mindlessly killing all those people. Hopefully, the group will still be able to hold that UN conference. Shit, why were you still worried about that? Aren't you going to die soon?

Still, you hope everything for the future would turn out alright, even if you won't see it. You feel like you should have regrets dying like this, but you don't feel much of anything at the moment.

Air is needed, now. Struggling to hold onto the missile, your mouth opens up, forcing you to take a deep breath of the salty ocean, drowning on it. Your last sights are the many fish that come towards you, swimming about. How ironic that Gleeks will be killing the very animals he wanted to save. And like that, everything is engulfed in light.

…It all came back to you now. So, that's what you were afraid of before, it was death. Fucking Gleeks, he killed you. No… wait, you killed yourself. You didn't have to jump on that missile. Try not to think about that right now. Are you supposed to be able to think after dying? Is that how death works?

You aren't in pain; it feels very warm to you now that you think about it. It's… relaxing, comforting. It's like you're falling down a large tunnel, being held close to something wrapping itself around you.

A small sound of something being suctioned can be heard. Looking around, you see yourself being directed to something else, something not white and bright. It doesn't take long until you make it to that small dark area, revealing land and trees everywhere. You can see a farm off to the side and a town in the outskirts of your view. Is this where people go to when they die?

That can't be. Why would death be located inside such a simple looking world? It's… a possibility you're hallucinating this right now. It looks like you're veering off to the forest beside that enormous farm. It doesn't look very inviting to you.

Closing your eyes, you wait for your eventual crash into the ground, then away from this strange dream. You feel at peace with all this, strange enough. The wind's cool on your body; the night sparkles around you in a bright fashion. It's... calming. If you have to die, this is a good way of doing it. With that final thought, you feel your body hitting something, then black.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Sitting around all day is boring, but you need to write down more scenarios. Aliens are so fascinating to think of! You just wanted to meet one to prove you're right, to say your dreams aren't all a made up hoax to get you this job.

It's not like all you did is write up these possible alien logs if certain extraterrestrials came into your world. No, your career is aimed at foreign aliens. The world all-around is still, on a very large scale, uncharted overall, with the only known species being you ponies, griffins, minotaurs, and a few other sentient beings.

Your job is to write up new ways to go about if we ever came across hostile creatures, scenarios of how to go about meeting these new beings, and finally, how to better interact overall with the current species to date. Not too many ponies took you seriously with your alien talks, taking them mostly for the stories of a nutcase.

To make things harder, once Luna came back, she immediately pronounced this entire universe, galaxy and existence outside your world was devoid of life. She'd know, what with her controlling the moon and stars. Princess Celestia had to agree with this immediately, having done the same as well. So, you moved arguments to alternate dimensions or different planes of existence.

Luna is still not happy with being told she may be wrong. Still, Princess Celestia more or less keeps you around, working on different ways to interact with any new species yet encountered. It's not as glamorous sounding as the Elements protecting the land from danger, but you have an important job as well.

"Lyra, are you going to work all day or are you going to finally come out here with me?"

Oh right, you're supposed to be stargazing with your best friend, Bon Bon, right now. Bon Bon's always been a close friend of yours, even with your strange quirks. She'd never leave you and you'd always be there for her as well. It's upsetting how many ponies thought you were marefriends, but you aren't that close. Well, there was that time during summer camp, but that was just experimentation for the two of you.

"Okay, one moment, Bonnie. I just need to finish up my weekly reports to the princess and I'll be out there with you."

Once a week, you'd make reports sent directly to the princess that she'd read personally. This letter you're working on is addressing the thoughts of the possibility of a true alien encounter near a town like Ponyville, and how you should go about dealing with them.

The princess is always so caring in each of her letters, though her skepticism on your ideas is there in each reply she sends you. You can't really blame her since it does sound strange, the ideas of aliens coming here. It's more likely for your own species to meet them someday. Even if that was possible, it would most likely be in the future.

You made a special lantern that holds a forever flame of the dragon, Spike, to send her letters directly. It was very difficult to make, but completely worth it in the end. You had to dig up so many of those darn gems up just to get that dragon happy on his end.

Taking your rolled up scroll, you throw it in the container. With a whoosh it shreds up, flying off to the princess. Spinning the top away from the flame, you direct the entrance where the scroll will appear to spit out into the bin attached.

"All done! Coming, Bonnie!"

After finishing that up, you run outside to enjoy some time with your friend. Maybe if you look hard enough into the stars, you can pretend life is actually out there. The two of you are on the top of your roof staring out at the darkened sky with a big telescope you own. You originally purchased the thing to look for… other things.

It's fun to hang out and look at the stars with Bon Bon. She brought little candies too, how nice. Taking some, you plop them into your mouth. They're the chewy ones you really like.

"Hey, Lyra, is there supposed to be a star shower scheduled tonight?"

What?

"No, can't say I…"

You trail off, staring into the sky. There's an enormous light soaring across the sky outside of Ponyville. Rushing past Bon Bon, you look into the telescope so you can see what exactly that is. The lens keeps refocusing; readjusting the darn thing's a chore to do while keeping an eye on the anomaly. Finally, it comes into view. Its shape is off from what you'd expected is a unicorn. It's more elongated with a pinkish tone, two legs…

"It… can't be…"

You know what you saw, but you just can't believe it. That strange anomaly's transporting something. You thought it might've been a unicorn, having messed up a spell. But this isn't shaped like a pony... It's shaped like a creature from your dreams, a human to be precise. Was this really one of them? You can't make out any proper details, but you're very certain it's most definitely an alien. Your heart's thumping so hard, you're certain Bonnie is hearing it as well.

"Lyra?"

You quickly leave the roof, heading straight for your closet. Scrimmaging around inside, you find your ready-made travel pack. Coming from the roof, Bon Bon walks up to you; spotting your pack, she lets out a loud groan.

"Again, Lyra? Please, just once, can you not do this and leave it alone?"

"I know what I saw there, and that's definitely an alien! I need to hurry and help it before it goes off and dies there."

"It's probably a unicorn, Lyra-"

"And if it was," you interrupt, "the pony's gonna need help, right? I may as well go either way."

You can hear something burning all of a sudden. Turning to the direction of the noise, you see the scroll has returned with a reply from the princess. Walking over to it, you unroll the scroll; a smile slowly creeps across your face, reading it. You recall the scroll you just sent to Princess Celestia, describing exactly what's happening right now! Sure, it's somewhere in the forest instead of outside your town, but that's a very minor detail, nothing that changes the overall scenario. And the princess is practically giving you the go ahead with this!

"See, Bonnie? Even the princess agrees it'd be a shame to let it go unwelcome. I just need to make sure it's not dangerous and we're all good."

You levitate the scroll over to her before returning back to your pack. You know aliens can be quite dangerous from your dreams, but they should be powerless against your magic. So long as they don't have any strange weapons. Still, you just need to show it that you're friendly and no problems should arise, right? With your pack now on, you make your way out the door with a smile. An alien finally, what were the chances?! This isn't like all the other times. No, you're one hundred percent certain this was the real deal this time!

"Lyra, this has happened _how _many times now?" Bon Bon calls out.

Stopping, you stand still. waiting for Bon Bon's words of argument. She does this for you, to be the counterpoint of normal reasoning on your journeys. Still, she has to understand you need to do this right now.

"Too many times to count," she continues. "All your sightings and explorations reveal nothing each time. Why can't you just stay in this one time instead of running off like this?"

"The possibility, no matter how small, is worth going out and hoping for the best results."

"There's no way that can be an alien encounter. Why do you insist on this so bucking much?!"

You turn to her with a small smile. "We all have dreams, Bonnie, mine's just a tad more difficult to get to. In the end all that matters is going for that dream, Bonnie. You just have to believe."

~End Prologue~


	2. Chapter One - A Curious Introduction

Quickly trotting through the streets with your bag, you set a fast pace towards the Everfree Forest. The place was very dangerous, what with every single thing in there ready to do harm at a moment's notice, but that's not what has you worried. No, what had you unprepared was the arrival of a real life alien. You dreamt of this moment for ages, but to actually have it happen...

Yes, you had thought the same things before whenever something strange happened or you misread situations, but this time you were completely certain it was an alien. You hoped the alien wasn't too dangerous. It could presumably put up a good fight, but it was no match for your magic. At least, you hoped.

Looking at the path, you saw you were passing Fluttershy's cottage now. All of her animal friends were asleep at the moment, since it was night. You never did thank Flutters for her help; she was able to give you a much better understanding of how all kinds of animals worked. When you come back, you'd do just that… after the alien was under control.

It didn't take long before you made it to the entrance of the forest; it was practically screaming at you to turn back. You've made many ventures through this forest, with and without any guidance. You already know what to do when it came to traversing through the dangerous area. With some small concentration, your horn began to glow until a sharp light protruded through the darkness, showing your path.

With some more concentration, the light turned red. You slowly made your way into the trees. No matter how many times you'd been in this forest it always freaked you out. How would the alien react to this new environment, probably vastly different from its own? For that matter, why did it choose to come here in the first place?

You didn't notice a ship or any other type of transportation. Maybe it has a special type of technology for landing you haven't seen in your dreams? You just hope it wasn't getting eaten by a manticore or a hydra, or something even worse out here.

What could be worse than that? Well, what about a manticore teaming up with a hydra? Or maybe the thing was bleeding, hurt from the landing which attracted a new form of land bear-sharks, to come out from the sea, to feast on its succulent flesh. Your imagination was running wild with so many different things that could've happened to the creature. You hurried your steps, trotting off through the trees in a panic.

"Please don't be hurt, please don't be hurt, please don't be hurt…"

Finding a small clearing, you look up to the night sky, gazing at the stars. They were your only map to find where the creature landed. You were so glad Bon Bon loved the stars. It sort of forced you to learn about them as well. Interesting, how your world could use them as a temporary map for lost travelers. Princess Luna set that up to make her subjects enjoy the night sky better.

And there was that cluster of stars near Ursa Minor, which pointed to the anomaly. Turning slightly right, you head straight off on your new path. From where you saw the creature crash, it was just outside the abandoned royal castle hidden in these forests. You remember one time you had gone there in search of old tomes and clues on a theory about aliens. That's how you met the strange zebra out here.

Thinking on her, you really hoped she was sleeping right now. If she noticed the crash site and got there first, she'd officially have first dibs on what was there! Not that there were any rules on first dibs. It was more of a courtesy thing you ponies had. Would it be possible to talk her out of it and handing the alien over to you? Not like she'd need the alien for anything. You'll probably have to trade something in return for it. Maybe poison joke would work?

Suddenly, you heard noises. They sounded very familiar, so you quickly teleport up into the trees, turning off your light spell to keep yourself from being noticed. Sitting on a branch, you look up ahead where the noise came from. It was a manticore, walking in your direction.

You're not sure how many times you've seen one, but they were frightening to look at. Their mashed up body parts reminded you of that dastardly draconequus Discord, which you always thought was really icky to look at. A shudder ran up your body, thinking about these chimeras.

You never want to meet something like Discord. He was way too chaotic… and especially creepy. He was also a jerk! When he escaped a while back, he turned all the smoothies into chocolate milk! Who does that?! Smoothies are obviously superior to chocolate milk.

Looking down at the manticore, you try your best not to get scared of the thing. Come on Lyra, get a hold of yourself. You're Lyra, the alien investigator! Lyra, the extraterrestrial master! Foreign beings and entities, watch out for that mare!

…Okay, it's been five minutes and the darn thing was just standing underneath you. It couldn't smell or trace your presence. You were wearing some strong anti-smelling spray to detract that from happening. There we go, it seems to be moving now

…Wait, why's it lying down?

Oh darn it to Tartarus, it went to sleep! Ooh, stupid manticore, go sleep somewhere else!

You didn't have time for this; there were aliens to be found! Rummaging through your bag quietly, you grab a very small ball with holes in it. A sound cracker. These balls were made to be very loud; all you needed was to place the sound in there and done. You put a very loud roar in it from a close encounter of a dragon you had once.

Why'd you get this ball? It was in case you ever needed a good distraction, plus it was fun to mess around with for pranks. How'd you get the sound? You thought there was an alien located inside a dragon's den. Turned out to be dragon hatchlings, but why let a good opportunity go to waste? So, you got a dragon roar in the process. You ran for a day and a half after that, stupid dragons were very keen on wanting pony for supper.

You were glad dragons didn't only dine on meat, what with them eating gems. You'd be more wary of that baby dragon around the town if it wasn't for that. Activating the ball's magical reserves, you dropped it right next to the manticore. In a matter of seconds, a loud piercing dragon's roar blasted out of the ball. The manticore jumped up in fright, completely scared out of its wits. Hovering in the air, the creepy looking chimera shoots off away from you in a random direction… along with an entire hoard of creatures following it.

Huh, well at least there was less to deal with in the forest now. Teleporting back down off the tree, you picked up the ball before continuing on your way. Frightening the manticore gave you a much needed boost of courage. If you could handle a manticore, surely you could handle an alien, right?

Thinking about the alien, you wonder just how to handle your first meeting with it. Maybe using magic in its vicinity would be a bad idea; you wouldn't want to scare it. The creature could be very temperamental if frightened or angered. Oh, you can't wait until you finally got to the alien! You were going to do so many things with it, like studying it or learning from it. And of course, being its friend!

You had to be getting close by now. The smell of freshly turned dirt was heavy in the air. You dimmed your light until it was just a small glow, before you proceeded cautiously through the trees. Off in the distance, you could just barely see the abandoned castle over the trees. See, you had to be close by now! You were feeling so darn excited right now; how many ponies could say they met an alien?!

Still, that little voice in the back of your head kept speaking doubts in your mind. 'This isn't an alien, it's just a unicorn'. 'Stop believing this nonsense'. 'Grow up'. 'You should have stayed with Bonnie and ate pudding instead'. You shoved those thoughts back inside, not wanting to hear any doubts right now.

_Just ignore them Lyra_, you'd always tell yourself. You just had to believe really, reeeeeally hard. And someday, your dreams would come true. As you walked into a clearing, you see a small crater in the middle. You trot up to it and notice the dirt around it was fresh. But there was nothing in the crater. Looking around for whatever left this behind, you see a small trail of dirt and flattened grass leading away.

Okay, the alien had to have made this hole. So, it was probably up ahead. Slowly following the trail, you could feel your heart thumping wildly. Your breathing was very erratic from you excitement. Calm down Lyra, you probably looked like a crazy mare during estrus right now. That would frighten the alien; you wouldn't want that, right?

…

Oh, why can't you stop breathing so bucking hard! Darn it, you were just too excited right now to calm down. Wait, breathing exercises! Bonnie taught you them a long time ago. They kept you from snapping at stupid ponies that were acting stupid. Like Twilight.

Breathe in…

"Aaahhhh."

And out…

"Ooohhh."

You always felt silly doing these, but they really helped. See, you were calming down. You continued walking, doing your breathing exercises on the move. The trail you were following led to a small gathering of crooked trees, where you could see a figure lying. Everything stopped for you, your breathing, your mind, and everything else but your heart, which you could hear thumping hard in your ears. Lying down in front of you was a human. It was a real life human, just like in your dreams!

"Eeeeehhhh!" you squee out to yourself.

Alright, it hasn't noticed you yet! Quietly, you take off your bag and slowly dig into it. Finding your camera, you turn off the flash and muffle the sound before taking some pictures. Your hooves were so shaky, it made it difficult to keep steady. Happy with what you took, you placed the camera beside the bag and set it to take more pictures every thirty seconds. You then proceeded to slowly walk up to it, making sure you were in full view of the lens.

The human here had a soft look to it. It had no hair, other than its head. Getting closer, you could see its peachy skin where its clothing wasn't covering it. Would your anatomy be similar to it's own? Its front hooves revealed digits very similar to a minotaurs. It had five digits, each one a different size.

The most disturbing part about the human was its face. It looked eerily like your own, how expressional it was. Its eyes glimmered in the little glow you had coming from your horn, as its mouth opened up to bre-

Oh crud, it was awake and looking at you right now!

You stop moving towards the human, frozen in place. The both of you stare at one another. It looked to be inspecting you, trying to understand what manner of awesome was standing before it. That's what you thought, anyways. The human didn't seem to react negatively from your presence. Maybe there were other creatures like you on its home planet? Or, it was just stunned in silence from how awesome you are.

…Okay, enough silly thoughts that were more than likely true. Better try and make contact with it, at let it know you meant no harm. Clearing your throat, you think of what would be best to say in this situation.

"Hello there. I mean you no harm. I come in peace. Do you come in peace? Do you like pudding?"

The creature's eyes widened, hearing your voice. Oh no, you didn't scare it did you? Darn it Lyra, it probably doesn't like pudding! You should've asked if it liked smoothies, everypony likes those! You could hear it speaking, but it came out really weird. Of course Lyra, don't be stupid; it was an alien, meaning alien things about it. Was it so strange to have it speak an alien language?

The creature's face continues looking at you before a smile starts forming on its face. With a small flutter of its eyes, the alien slumps down. Panicking, you inspect the body, making sure it wasn't dead. No, nothing of the sort, it must've been too tired and fell asleep. Looking at it, you notice there wasn't a single mark on it. Just how did it survive that landing in the first place?

Was it the alien's technology? Or was magic somehow involved? Guess you'll find out later, you think, walking backwards to your bag. It might be a bad idea to turn away from it; you were just playing it safe. Making it to your pack, you see the camera took only three photos. Darn it to Tartarus, you forgot to put more film in!

Well, at least the photos weren't too bad. Some proof of its arrival would be good to have on file. Putting everything back in your bag, you wonder what to do next. You can't have it stay out here. It might damage itself or get eaten. Or that bear-shark, wanting to feast on it, might come out here with a horde of hydras!

Of course, you were planning on taking it back with you. Levitating the creature was a simple task. It's going to be difficult maneuvering through the trees and staying away from the creatures. You could always run now that you got what you came for. Packing up, you started you return to Ponyville with a large smile. Maybe later, you could convince it to be friends with you?

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~ 30 Minutes Prior ~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Uuuugggh…"

Oh dear god, what the hell happened? You were currently lying face down on the ground. You felt so damn tired, sleep sounded like a good idea. Suddenly, you remember everything. Gleeks, the missile, and that strange light tunnel; your minds not so tired all of a suddenly.

Turning over on your back, you notice you were in a hole the size of your body. There were trees all around you, stretching high into the sky. A thought pops into your head. Weren't you supposed to be dead?

Was this where dead people go? This just didn't seem right, you still felt so alive. Think on that later, you better move somewhere safe. Maybe you can drag yourself to that town you saw before getting dumped here. You attempt to stand up, but your body tells you it's simply too tired.

Fuck it, you'll drag yourself there. Rolling back on your stomach, you start wobbling your body about, dragging your arms up and over to move. All of a sudden, a loud, piercing roar could be heard. What the hell was that?! The roar was followed by a herd of strange looking animals running past you.

Okay, you obviously needed to rest if you just saw a chicken with a lizard body on it. Dragging your body over to some trees, you turn yourself around, resting your back on it. With how tired you were, it didn't take long for you to fall asleep.

It didn't feel like you were asleep very long when you woke up. You were hearing some strange clicking noises, followed by what sounded like steps. You force your eyes open, trying to get focus back into them.

What… the hell...

Standing before you was a green looking… unicorn? Yes, it was a unicorn, colored different shades of green, with a light, red glow over its body. It was pretty to look at you thought. But… there were some things off on it. For one, it's face looked very human. Also, weren't unicorns supposed to be taller? And why was it green? Maybe it was a little child that wondered away from its mother.

Wait Anon, what are you thinking? This wasn't real, maybe you didn't die and was in a hospital bed and this was all a dream? Yeah, that made the most sense to you right now. The unicorn started making these weird sounds, as if it were trying to speak to you. It sounded very lyrical to your ears. Wish you could understand it. You were surprised, it almost felt like those stories you heard when you were just a kid.

"I'm sorry imaginary unicorn, but I don't understand you. It was nice meeting you though, before I wake up."

You smile at the green unicorn. You had always wanted to see some magic from your childhood stories and adventures. Strange, how your mind conjured it up green though. Tiredness swept over your body, forcing your eyes shut.

Guess it was time to wake up from this interesting dream of yours. Sort of wish you could have spoken to it and did something. You quickly slump over, falling back to sleep with the sounds of hurried steps making their way to you.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~ Present ~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

You were so glad it was dark right now and everypony was asleep. You wouldn't want others to see you taking something from the forest. They'd think you were bringing a dangerous creature from there, mistaking it for an alien. It happens one time and no one will forget it! It's not like you'd make that mistake twice! Still, this had to be the greatest moment of your life. Finally, an alien came and you could prove it right here!

Better be safe and stay out of the lights, wouldn't want it be seen you had something with you. Looking back at the alien, you wonder what you'll do first with it. You needed to better understand what exactly the alien was, and if it would do any harm. You doubt it would do harm though, why would it come here to hurt you ponies? Nope, it definitely came here to be friends! And you were going to be its first one. Talking to it's going to be very troublesome. You wouldn't be stupid and impatient enough to try and use a spell to dump the information inside his noggin. You didn't know what mental spelling would do to it.

You could imagine Twilight doing just that. For such a smart mare being trained by the princess herself, you'd think she'd have more sense than that. You recall a time when she did just that, shoving info into a bear to get it to speak. She said it was for study purposes. The stupid bear went on a rampage, demanding honey for its rumbling tummy! Thank goodness for Fluttershy. She stalled it long enough for Twilight to get the info back out. You're definitely not letting this alien anywhere NEAR that crazy mare.

It didn't take long for you to get back home. The lights were out inside your house. Guess Bonnie must've gone to sleep. Good, wouldn't want her seeing the alien just yet. Opening the door to your house, you slowly walked inside. It was very difficult trying to avoid hitting the alien against your furniture and walls. You were sweating heavily from the effort of levitating it so long.

"So… tired," you panted out. Where's an energy smoothie when you needed one?

It took a few minutes, but you finally made your way up the stairs and into your room. Now… how do you keep this thing secured for the time being? Tying it up might be bad, it would probably be angry at you. And that would mean less cooperation from the human.

There's nothing to really cage it with. Oh, why didn't you get that extra room built here like you planned?! You could've just locked it in there! Your ears droop on your head, looking around your room. Gonna have to lock it in here for the night. Then you could attempt to talk to it tomorrow when it wakes up. You levitated the creature over to your bed, gently laying it down before letting your spell go.

Walking to your window, you close and lock it up tight. Looking around, you find your chair sitting over by your desk. You levitate it over and snap the back of the chair and the legs off of it. Placing some magic into what's left of your seat, you magically glue it into place. You don't want the alien being seen through the window. You then start going around your room and levitate every single thing out of your room.

You've seen the ingenuity of what humans are capable of in your dreams. Why, it could probably use anything in here as a weapon! Like your desk, or even your papers! You don't want to see your paper being weaponized for dangerous paper cuts of doom. That's a definite no-no for you. Your room was now completely empty. Well, except for the bed the alien was on and your mirror. That thing was too large to move. He'll probably like preening over himself, you'll keep that there.

Uh-oh, you nearly forgot to check your attached bathroom. Wouldn't want a weaponized toilet scrubby in his paws, do you? Okay, NOW everything was out. You made sure to leave some toilet paper in the bathroom if it needed to use it. Wait, could it poop? Do humans poop? Or do they use everything in their bodies?

Never actually saw them do the deed. Eh, the worst that could happen is it uses the paper for something else, no big deal there. You'll be sure to ask its pooping habits later. Hope Bon Bon doesn't mind all your stuff being in the living room. She'll understand once you speak to her tomorrow.

She is so going to eat her own words once you introduce the alien to her. You giggled at the thought of her having to literally eat her own words. You take one last look at the creature sleeping on your bed. There were so many questions and things to do with it. Oh, the princess needed to be informed!

You close the door quietly before using magic to lock the door. You also put a chair underneath the knob as well, just in case. Walking downstairs, you sit down in the now-cluttered room before taking out a scroll. You hope the princess doesn't get upset on how early you're sending this message. Surely she'll understand the urgency of it.

You quickly state how you had found an alien, with some basic information, and a single photo. Just as you were about to shove it into your lantern, you stop. What would the princess do with the alien? Would they take it away? Would they allow you to study it? Would they force it into a zoo for everypony's amusement?!

Now you really didn't want to send the letter but… you had an obligation to do so. You really hope they don't take the human away. After sending the letter, you throw yourself onto your couch. It was nearly sunrise; you better get some sleep so you can better deal with the alien refreshed.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~ Canterlot ~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Dearest sister, it is time for our night to be put down here, and arisen elsewhere."

"Indeed Luna, shall we begin?"

You are Princess Celestia. And you are currently changing shifts with your sister, raising your sun for another bright and wonderful day. It was a slow process that took over an hour, to properly mesh the night and day. This allowed your subjects time to get used to the rising sun so they don't get uneasy.

You wouldn't want your sun to come up without easing it in. It didn't look as beautiful or as magnificent otherwise. Plus, there were less scared subjects to worry over. You tried it one time, raising it in the air without thinking about it. It scared the living daylights out of everypony in Equestria. It was a good laugh for a while… but it had an unfortunate reaction.

It scared every one of them into a very unsatisfying submission. Now everypony believes you and your sister were gods, and that it was in your power to raising the sun, or keep it away. Not true. Surely a very, VERY large sum of unicorns and magical beings could raise and lower the sun… you think.

Finally, the sun was coming into view over your lands. The two of you let the spell drop, allowing the sun and moon to slip into their places.

"It is now time for our sleep sister, we wish th-"

Without warning, a spell pops into your face, taking the form of a scroll. You blink in confusion, staring at the floating paper. Now who could be writing you so early? Levitating the scroll over, you read over the message. Luna seems interested at this, seeing as it didn't appear from one of the elements themselves.

"What doth the message say?"

"How… peculiar, it's from Lyra. She's stating an alien race she's naming 'Human' has been sighted from the forest outside Ponyville. She claims to have captured it just a few hours ago..."

You suddenly realize what this must be. A small smile forms on your face.

"Why, she thought up a scenario for us!"

She frowns at you, clearly unsure of what you mean. Of course, it could be her dislike of Lyra. Ever since she showed your sister that aliens coming here is possible, Luna has disliked that mare.

"And why would our subject feel a need to rudely send out this… scenario, so early to our sister?" Luna asked.

"Don't you remember the last letter she sent in? It addressed a possibility of what would happen if an alien made contact. And that's what she's doing now, don't you see? Lyra must be setting up a scenario based on my earlier reply, just to see if we would handle it properly."

Most of Lyra's talks about aliens didn't sound normal. You didn't see any real harm coming from her… strangeness. Just so long as she kept up with her weekly work reports. Lyra's work in foreign scenarios really did help you ponies, working with other kingdoms and creatures. If only you had Lyra a few hundred years back...

And her talk of aliens was so fascinating, so new, and so different you couldn't help but agree reading them. It helped the dreary days pass by, reading her interesting alien scenarios. You look down at the scroll she just sent. Lyra's done small little challenges before. They were simple things that were a nice distraction for you. But reading the scroll… this seems so much bigger than her usual 'alien' scenarios.

'So, our subject wishes to test us in these scenarios?"

"It would seem so. She even went out of her way to creating, or 'taking' a picture of it in the letter, see?"

"Hmm, what a strange being; there are similarities to us ponies in its face. Very… analogous, to those deceased species of apes long ago. There's something else that's tugging at our memory, looking at this being…"

"Well, there are some basic descriptions in the letter: it has soft skin, five digits with no claws, bipedal like a minotaur, completely clothed, doesn't speak our language… and some other minor details."

"Our subject even timed this letter to appear before us both at the same time, as if to address us together. This was very thought out indeed. We must admit, this seems very entertaining."

The two of you trotted out to your personal study with the letter, talking back and forth on the 'situation' that had arrived in Ponyville.

"So far, she has locked it away from anyone coming in contact with it," you say to Luna, taking a seat at your table. "She wishes to see what we should have her do."

"First order of business would be to watch it, making sure this creature is no harm to our subjects."

"That seems like a reasonable action. We better make sure any necessities are included for this; should we provide bits to play along, or offer it first?"

You would have to get approval for those bits. Just to show you weren't squandering the money about. It shouldn't be too difficult in obtaining them. You doubt Lyra would even use the bits. Not without reason, that is. The thing in the picture looked expensive to make, with how realistic it looked. She may need more materials to help with this scenario.

"We should offer first, if our bits are needed at all. A weekly report on daily events should be provided."

"Why, that's such a good idea! It would give us more to read and look at."

You and your sister spent the next hour talking to one another. You'd have to thank Lyra later for this. Luna… she still had trouble being around you, what with the whole Nightmare Moon fiasco. You feel that this was the thing to bringing you two closer together. A weekly talk about this scenario should be easy enough to manage into your schedules, so you could spend more time with her. Hopefully, you can open her up a little more around you.

"And now we send it," you state, spelling the reply message to Lyra. "Oh sister, I can't wait for next week's response!"

"And we are just anxious as you are… sister."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Ponyville~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Whoosh!

You woke up at the sudden sound. Oh no, did the human get out?! It needed to be put back in your room! Running around downstairs for the alien, you can't seem to find the human anywhere. Checking upstairs, you see the chair's still in place. So it's still in the room then. But what made that sound?

You walk downstairs in confusion, wondering what woke you up from your dream. It was a really cool dream too! You turned into a kite, with Bon Bon holding the string attached to you. And in the sky, all the clouds were made of Bonnie's candies. So she flew you around as you gobbled all the little pieces out of the sky.

Walking back to the living room, you notice something was off. There was now a scroll by your lantern, that wasn't there before. Levitating it over, you notice the princess's seal was on it. She replied! You quickly unfurl it, anxious to see what Princess Celestia said. You read every word thoroughly, twice, three times… too many times reading it! You couldn't believe it. They were allowing you to keep the alien!

You hug the scroll up to your chest, smiling. You felt so darn happy right now, you could cry. You were going to do such a good job for the princess. This was going to be such a great day for you!

~End Chapter One~


	3. Chapter Two - My Name Is

Poke.

Poke.

Poke.

"Hnhrurhg… hhnn…"

Poke-poke-poke-poke-poke-poke-poke-poke-poke…

"Hnn… quit iiiit, nnnyaaaa!"

You kick your hooves at the horrible annoyance. Go away poking thing, shoo!

…Poke.

Why wouldn't it stop!

"Whaa!"

Thump!

And now you've fallen off the couch. You look up, blinking at the figure standing above you. Hey… it's Bon Bon! And she doesn't look happy. She gives you a very grumpy frown. Wait, it sort of looks like a smile since you're looking at her upside down. You like the happy Bon Bon over the grumpy Bon Bon.

…You should probably answer her.

"Um, hey Bonnie… you have a nice nap?"

"Why is everything down here trashed?"

You raise a brow in confusion. She waves a hoof around the room. Looking around, you see your belongings scattered about.

"Oh, that."

You give a small chuckle, looking at your mess. Guess you should've cleaned up before going to sleep.

"Sorry 'bout the mess Bonnie," you say, jumping up to your hooves. "But listen, I've got something to show you!"

"I don't have time for this Lyra. I have to open up my stand in one hour. I expect this place to be clean by the time I get back."

Wait a darn minute… Bonnie doesn't open her stand until ten! Great, you only slept a measly four hours. Bon Bon walks over to the door in an angry fashion. You scramble up to your hooves in a hurry, following her.

"Wait Bon Bon, I wanted to tell you about last night! I found the crash site in the forest!"

Bon Bon stops at the door, turning to look at you.

"Is the unicorn alright?"

"What? Oh, THAT! I didn't find a unicorn." You run up to her face, a smile stretched across your face. "It was a real… life… alien!"

Bon Bon stares at you, unable to reply from what you said. She must be in total awe at your awesome discovery! …No, wait; she's giving you that, 'Stop being silly, I don't have time for this' look.

"Oh? And what did the alien do when you found it?" she asked in a monotonous manner. "Is it planning on taking our stallions and ruling over us?"

"Heh, I have nooo idea what it can say. But it was unconscious in the forest, so I brought it here! It's asleep in my room, so that's why all my stuff is out here."

NOW you see a reaction from Bonnie. Her ears flatten on her face with her teeth clenched together as she looks towards your room.

"Its… in your room… right now?" she asked in a cracked voice.

You nod your head. Bon Bon slowly begins walking backwards away from you.

"I see. Well then, I suppose I'll… come back later today with something to better handle your alien," Bonnie says with a very forced smile. "Like last time."

Before you can ask what she meant by that, Bon Bon runs off.

"Like last time?"

Now what did she mean by that?

…

"Ooh! Right…"

Bon Bon probably thought you brought back another creature from the forest, mistaking it for an alien. That's probably why she acted like that. Well, you just have to convince her when she gets back that you really have an alien in your room. But for now, it's a good time to start your work on it! Closing the door, you turn around… and see the horrid mess you made last night. You let out a groan, looking at the place.

"Guess I should… clean this up, I suppose."

Well that didn't take long to do. You just had to shove everything into a corner. That fixed up the place right away! With that done, you plop down onto your couch. Better figure out what you would need to do with the alien first. Just what were your priorities? Obviously, the first was to see if it was an immediate danger to ponies. That was what the princess wanted you to do first. It shouldn't be too difficult.

Those dreams of yours didn't provide much information on humans. For all you knew, they'd attack anything they thought was dangerous. Be optimistic Lyra, surely the thing wouldn't attack you straight off the bat. It didn't attack you in the forest, right? There was nothing in your room to aid in its attack… but what if it got creative. Why, what if it tried to tickle you to death with its soft claws! That would be a horrible way to die!

An old memory surfaced from magic kindergarten. You were minding your own business, drawing a cute little being called Doramon you dreamt of the night before. That's when… it happened. Loud, screaming laughter was overheard from the other side of the room. It sounded like somepony needed help! You ran over there as quickly as you could… but it was too late.

They had to take your schoolmate away from the disruption. You overheard he 'busted a gut' from the attack. They never did find who started the attack. Ever since, you've had this fear of being over-tickled; you wouldn't want to rupture anything in your tummy. You'll have to watch out for the human on that.

You'd just have to show you were a friendly, sentient being! That would prove you weren't an immediate danger to it. That seems like a good starting point. You can work on things like anatomy and intelligence testing later on.

So your first few days will be spent convincing it that you are a pony worth befriending! Giving it food will go a long way there. Everything loves food, and surely something you bring it will satisfy its hunger. You quickly run off into the kitchen and get out a big platter.

"What would an alien, a human one at that, eat? Hmm…"

Let's try adding things you would eat! Surely something would appease it, and you can fix future meals after finding its initial reaction to each food item. Let's see here…

Throw on some hay… Some different varieties of flowers… Ooh, sunflower seeds were really yummy!

Don't forget to add in some apple slices. Oh, what if the human ate meat? Protein would be a must then, better cook up some eggs! Aaand, there! It's all arranged into a smiling pony; that sure seems friendly to you! But, there's something missing… Oh, hot cocoa! It was getting cold and fall had just started. Bet it would appreciate something nice and warm. You stuff that sucker with some sprinkles and marshmallows. You even make sure to use the small marshmallows; those were always the better ones.

Good, now you were ready to feed it your totally awesome and friendly looking tray of food. You levitate your food, along with some other supplies you'd need, up the stairs. Don't forget the scrolls! You need to gather information on how it reacts to your food. The princess was counting on you for a thoroughly detailed job. But you better not show the creature you had magic. That might startle it away from you.

Standing in front of your door, you move the chair to the side. Okay, got to be nice and friendly looking here Lyra. Otherwise, it might not be friendly to you. Would it be friends with a pony? Oh you were hoping so!

Uh-oh, you're breathing hard again; time for some Bon Bon breathing exercises. You _have_ to calm down, a first impression is very important here. Don't you mess this up! Remember, talk in a calm, nice manner. And do not look like you're going to attack it. Okay Lyra, ready to go!

…After some more breathing to calm you down.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Anon's POV ~X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

You woke up only a minute ago, refreshed but sore. Oh man, you fucking feel stiff. Some water would be nice right now. Better get up and drink something. Sitting up, you rub the sleep from your eyes. That was some weird dream you had. You remember something about a forest, along with a green looking creature.

Looking around, you notice you're not in your cabin on the ship. Why is that? Oh, wait. You remember the damn missile. Need to stop forgetting that. That would explain why you're so sore; you fucking hit the ocean, hard. And why were you still in your clothes? Shouldn't you be in a hospital gown? This didn't look like a hospital room though.

Taking another look around, you note there wasn't much to look at. A strangely boarded up window, a large mirror, two doors, and the bed you were on. The bed seemed pretty small for you… and a bit frilly.

Well, wherever you were, it was obviously _not_ a hospital. Someone must've taken you in then. You stretch, cracking the joints in your body, before getting up from the bed. Going over to one of the doors, you give it a jiggle on the knob; locked. Whoever was holding you here must not want you to leave.

Walking to the other door revealed a bathroom. Not much inside, there was a sink, a mirror, and some toilet paper with little smiley faces on it. Strange, they sort of look like horses smiling. And why does the sink look so small?

…

Holy hell, what was wrong with that toilet! The seat was placed right into the ground. How were you supposed to sit on that and use it? Strangely, even the tub was off. It was enormous, as if it was made to seat two people in it.

Looking around once more, you just noticed the ceiling felt a tad close to your head. Leaving the bathroom, you sit back down on the bed. Where the fuck are you?! How long have you been out? This whole thing felt like a horrible piece of writing done up by an equally horrible writer.

You could hear sounds on the opposite side of the locked door. That must be your watchers. Better thank them for keeping you here, and ask why the hell you weren't at a hospital. The door opened up… revealing something you didn't expect.

It was that unicorn from the dream you had. Why was it here? You weren't still dreaming were you? The unicorn slowly walks in and stops. Why was it here? Weren't you supposed to have dreamt that up? Wait a second... tiny bed, low ceiling, weird ass toilet… this must be the unicorn's house.

You were being watched, by the unicorn, in its house…

Okay, just take a moment and think. Either one, you're still dreaming. Two, you're hallucinating. Or three… you're dead, and this is the afterlife. What kind of afterlife would that be?! This feels too damn real to be a dream, and too damn detailed for a hallucination… let's just play it out for now and see where this goes.

"~+Are you okay, Mr. Alien?+~"

You jumped a little, hearing the unicorn chirrup something out. You didn't expect that. That definitely sounded like she tried speaking to you. You wish you could understand the unicorn. Looking at the green being, she gives you a worried look. God, why could you tell it looked like that? Weren't unicorns supposed to look like horses, but with horns? Goddamn it, unicorns were supposed to look regal and mystical. She looked like a balled up pile of adorableness splashed with a fresh coat of cute!

You see the unicorn backing away from you. Shit, you didn't mean to scare it away. Wait, you remember some of the mytho's on unicorns. It probably thinks you're going to cut off its horn now! No wait, why keep you in here if that was even a possibility? You're so fucking confused.

The unicorn returns, standing at the door with a small cart. You see on top is a tray of… animal feed in the shape of a smiling pony. That's creepy.

"~+I brought something to eat Mr. Alien!+~" the green unicorn chirped at you.

Better not do anything to make the unicorn angry, she might decide to gore you . She walks into the room on her hind legs, pushing the little tray over with a smile. You're surprised at how well she's handling herself, standing like that.

"~+I hope you enjoy it!+~"

And of course, a cute sounding voice to accompany it. Maybe those stories weren't all that accurate here. All of a sudden, something goes wrong. Her bottom hooves seemed to have tripped from her awkward walking, forcing her to stumble forward. That sent the tray straight at you. Nothing on the tray spilled, but the cup of brown, boiling hot liquid is now covered across your lap.

"SHIIIIT!" you cry out in pain.

That surely fucking felt real to you! The unicorn is lying on the ground from her fall. You don't pay much attention to that right now. Pain, pain, paaaain! Jumping up, you run over to the bathroom and slam the door shut. Holy fucking hell this burns! Taking off your pants and boxers, you start throwing on some water to cool your crotch region. Yeah, not working, so you jump into the bathtub and blast the faucet on you; muuuuuch better.

It takes a few moments to cool down. Getting out, you notice you've made a good mess . Hopefully the unicorn doesn't mind that. You do your best to clean your pants and boxers. Interesting, there's a sweet smell coming off it. Sniffing it reminds you of chocolate, and stupidly licking it tells you it was chocolate.

This… was this hot chocolate? Thinking back on the cart, it looked like animal feed to you. Was she trying to feed you? You chuckle at the thought. Well, better go back out there. If the unicorn really was your caretaker, you'd need to stay friendly with her. Donning your clothing once more, you crack the door open. Looking around, you notice two things. One, the mess that should've been there, well, isn't. And two, the unicorn was sitting at the foot of the bed, talking to herself.

"~+Stupid, stupid, stupid! Now how are you going to do your job, and the reports, and be friends with it, and-+~"

She hiccups, wiping what you presume was her eyes. Wait, how in the hell is the unicorn sitting like that? You shake your head, now's not the time to be thinking about that. You can do that later. You slowly walk back out, hoping nothing major would happen from you previous outburst.

"Um, unicorn?"

Hearing you speak, she turns her head at you, still trying to wipe her eyes.

"I know you can't understand me but I'm not, well, angry or nothing."

Yeah, she couldn't understand you from the looks of things. Still, maybe the tone of how you're speaking will show you're not angry? It seems to work, watching her jump down on her legs. You make your way back to the bed, sitting back down where you were before. The unicorn performs some breathing exercises, before lightly pushing the tray in your direction.

She seems a bit shaken up. Well, you're just gonna have to do your best not to make this worse for her. Looking down, you see the usual stuff you'd expect farmers feed their animals. Yeah, this was supposed to be food for you. Well, it was the thought that counts, right? The green mythological creature continues staring at you, now with a scroll and quill out opposite of you. Where the hell did those come from?

Was she going to write something? She seems to be waiting on you to eat. Picking up the hay, you examine it. It doesn't look edible. But what do you know, this might not be a dream and that might be a unicorn. In that sense, this might be edible. Taking a bite, you chew it a few times over. You immediately regret your actions, spitting it out on the tray, trying to wipe your tongue of the taste. Yep, still can't eat this.

You see her horn slowly get bright, before vanishing all together. That was interesting. The small unicorn chuckles before picking up the quill with both of her marshmallow looking hooves. Dipping it in ink, she writes something down in a language you couldn't understand.

She then stops and looks up at you. The green equine must be waiting on you to try something else. So, you continue on each food item she brought up. You skip the flowers all together, pushing them aside while emphasizing your dislike. The sunflower seeds weren't bad. Apple slices and eggs were definitely good. You made to show how much you like them, hoping she'd get that.

You wish there was a fork for the egg. You doubt the unicorn would bring something that might be dangerous for you to handle. Wait, why would they even have utensils? And why is this even on a plate, or a cart? Once again, stop thinking on these weird things and just go with it.

When you finish your apple slices, she gives you a smile before putting her items away. The unicorn then exits the room, pulling the tray backwards towards the door before closing it. A click could be heard on the other side of the door. She just locked you in here again, didn't she? Understandable; she probably didn't trust you well enough right now. Maybe you can convince her otherwise? That's if this wasn't all a dream or a hallucination, of course.

You lie back on the bed, putting your arms behind your head and staring up at the ceiling in thought. So… let's just say you weren't home and you were, in fact, dead. What do you do about that? Would you be living with this unicorn for the rest of your life? Would she get tired and throw you out into that forest again?

Man, you had so many questions, and no fucking person to answer them. Was this purgatory, or some weird afterlife? And why exactly was there a unicorn here? If you really were dead, then the group was going to be sad to hear about your death, especially your mom. Surely the group can handle things without you. They had money now and could hire someone with just as much experience as you, if not more.

You're not sure when, but you must've drifted off. You probably slept a few hours, with how much darker it was in the room. The shuffling outside the door was what woke you up. With a click, the door opened. And there was the green unicorn once more.

You sit up, staring at the unicorn. She gives you a big smile before taking a seat near the door. Wonder why she came back. A few seconds go by with her staring at you. Slowly, she raises a hoof at herself and pats her chest a few times over.

"~+Lyra!~+~"

Maybe she was doing a greeting to you? She repeats her actions a few times, saying that same single word over and over. You continue staring at her. What did she want? Her face pouts in annoyance, her green ears twitching about as she brought up a hoof to her chin in thought. As if she struck a good idea, she points at you now and says nothing, then back to her before saying that word again. She then repeats her actions a few times.

Wait, maybe she was introducing herself? Having a name would be nice, instead of referring to her as 'that unicorn'. Pointing to her, you slowly make the same sounds she did. It would take some time remembering how to say it properly. You repeat this a few times until you feel pretty damn close to it.

"Lee,ra. Ly,ra. …Lyra."

The unicorn, now named 'Lyra', lets off a giggle, clapping her hooves together. She gives you a big smile before pointing her hoof at you. She must want your name now. You point a finger at yourself, making sure to speak slowly.

"Anonymous."

God you fucking hate your name. Why did your parents name you that? Lyra's ears twitch as you watch her jaw moving about, as if trying to speak to herself. You repeat your name a few times to help.

"A-nun-imuss."

Eh, close enough.

You nod your head at her with a small smile. She grins widely, happy to have gotten your name. The unicorn, Lyra, exits the room quickly. She immediately returns with a tray full of apples and eggs. Thank god she understood your dislike of the other stuff.

There was a lot more than before; it was piled on the plate. Did she expect you to eat all this? As before, Lyra sits opposite of you with another scroll, watching. It was a bit creepy, but it's not like you can actually argue. Besides, she was giving you free food. It was a pain trying to eat these eggs without something to grab them with. Maybe they actually _do_ have utensils. It sure would be better than eating with your hands.

You finish what can, but there was still so much left. She nudges at you, probably a gesture to keep eating, but you were freaking stuffed. As soon as she realizes you were done, Lyra waves goodbye and exits once more with the tray.

You go back to the bed to lie down with a nice full stomach, you feel much better now. Didn't realize you were so hungry. You're feeling tired again. You think back on the little green unicorn you've only just met. Where unicorns common, or was it one of only a few? Why did its horn glow earlier today? Just why was it being so friendly to you? Maybe if you slept on it this would all make more sense tomorrow. Or you'll wake up and realize this was all only a dream. Only time will tell, but for now, you sleep.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Lyra's POV ~X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Everything was going fairly well, you thought. The morning meal could've gone better. You sure did feel stupid giving it that cocoa. In a good twist of luck, the human didn't turn on you after burning it. Thank goodness for that! Better not write that you were crying in the report. The second meal was an improvement. And now you knew how much the creature could ingest on a regular basis. You just needed to feed it a smaller amount; it left a good amount of eggs on the dish.

You even got to introduce yourself! You felt fuzzy and happy to know the alien knew your name. Though, what kind of name was 'Anunimuss' anyways? The sound of a door being slammed open could be heard. Bon Bon must be back! You had so much to tell her! Floating the tray down the stairs, you spot her near the door… with a large golf club and net .

"Okay, where's the monster?!" Bon Bon shouts as she looks around frantically, as if something would pop out at any moment.

"Bonnie, what are you doing?"

"I could ask you the same thing Lyra! Bringing another creature here from the forest, are you mad!"

You chuckle at her before moving the leftover food from Anunimuss near the couch. You're not going to let food go to waste.

"Bon Bon, there's no monster thing here. It's really an alien! I even got a reply from the princess on it!"

"Oh sure, right. Just like the time you thought that costumed pony last Nightmare Night was from the 'nether', and you kidnapped her for a week!"

"A small mistake!"

"Or the time you brought back that naga and all its friends came to the village looking for it!"

"Oh yeah! That was really funny when they started hollering at Mayor Mare, heh..."

"Look Lyra, I get you want this to be a real alien. But I've got to get whatever you dragged back out before something else happens!"

Bon Bon immediately walks past you, heading up the stairs. You roll your eyes before flashing your horn, levitating her back down. She screams at you to let her down.

"Look Bonnie, I know I messed up in the past but this is the real deal! And if you had been listening before, I even got the princess's signature, confirming everything!"

"How in the HAY did you get them to listen to you?!" she yells, squirming about in the air.

"I took pictures of it with some info and sent it in! Here, just look."

Levitating the reply scroll and pictures over, you see she frantically begin reading it over. Her face does an immediate turnabout from anger to disbelief.

"W-wait, so the thing up there, that's not a monster b-but an actual alien?!"

"Yep!" you answer, nodding your head.

"A real one, not fake… but real?"

"Ah-huh!"

"And the princess herself is allowing you to watch over it… "

"Eeeeyup!"

Bon Bon stares at you for a good minute, most likely not sure how to take this. It's probably fine now to put her down. Bonnie immediately walks over to the couch and plops on it. You follow suit and sit with her.

"So… there's really an alien in your room right now?" she asks, looking at you.

"Yeah, there really is!"

"I just can't believe it" she says shaking her head. "Finally got your wish and all… so is it dangerous, or-"

"Nah, the human was very passive to me."

"It's a human?!" she asks with eyes wide.

Oh right, you told Bon Bon about your dreams, and humans popped up a few times. She's probably remembering how much you told her about them. Or shes' just surprised something from your dreams actually turned out real.

"Heh, yeah it is. Neat huh?! But I can't have the princess know about my dreams, so I have to start from scratch here and get it to reveal itself."

"So why not just ask it questions to get them?"

You shake your head at that.

"The human can't understand us, alien language and all."

"Oh."

"Still, I've got the princess's permission to study it and provide detailed reports on it! Right now, I'm getting basic data and trying to teach it our language. I even got it to say my name! I bet I could even get you for assistant help on this. The princess did offer bits for things I may need, and help would be one of those things."

"Do you really think the princess would pay for that?"

"Totally! I mean, every awesome project, led by an equally awesome mare, needs an awesome assistant! Sadly, I couldn't find any awesome assistants, but you'll do."

Bonnie playfully shoves you, making you chuckle.

"…Well, it would be nice to take a break from making and selling candy during the fall and upcoming winter."

"See! Oh it'll so much fun with the two of us doing this! You'll just have to listen to my instructions since I _AM_ the leading professional in aliens around here."

Bon Bon chuckles at your words. She reaches over at the plate you brought down and takes an apple. You join in alongside her, levitating the cold eggs and eating them. Hmm, you should've put some seasoning on them.

"So… can I… see it?"

"Sure," you answer, muffled by the chewed eggs in your mouth. "It's probably sleeping right, now so be very careful not to wake it up."

After finishing what you were eating, the two of you quietly make it up the stairs. Arriving at the door, you flare your horn and magically unlock it. The two of you enter the semi-dark room, slowly walking up to the bed towards the human's side. You put on a very small glow to look at the humans features better.

Bonnie stands there, staring at its face with wide eyes.

"It's… it's so… ponylike."

"I know. It was weird for me too, at first." You nudge Bonnie, forcing her to look at you. "Come on; don't want it waking up with us watching it sleep. That would probably freak it out, not too sure what it might do then."

"Oh, right."

After leaving, you lock the door and make your way back downstairs. You started telling Bon Bon what you needed to do, and how she could assist.

"And at the end of every week, I send a report back to Princess Celestia. Then, she'll reply back to me and see where to go from there."

"It doesn't seem too difficult, but teaching it another language might need some help. Maybe if I talked to Twilight-"

"NO!" you holler out, snapping Bon Bon back from your voice. "We can NOT let that crazy mare in here! Just think back on some of her experiments, and tell me if that's such a good idea? Seriously, remember when she tried turning that tree sentient? All it did was yell out "Praise the Sun!" while whacking everypony away and throwing apples!"

It was pretty funny with Applejack trying to buck it, and the tree doing the bucking back. Bonnie opens her jaw to put an argument, and then slowly closes it shut.

"You make a good point."

"So it'll be the two of us doing this until we can teach it our language, then about us in general. And then, to learn about the human."

"Suppose we actually accomplish this, then what?"

"We get confirmation from the princess, and then try to bring it out into our society."

"…And why would we do that? I don't get it."

"It'll show that we can allow other forms of sentient beings to live amongst us if we ever get more visitors. Plus, it's a living sentient being! Don't you think it's cruel to keep it locked up? Tomorrow, I'm going to try and talk with it some more. I'm hoping to see you there so you can introduce yourself to it."

"Well, first I need to post something on my stand in the morning. Then I need to talk to some ponies about being away from my business. I better get some sleep; I'll see you sometime in the afternoon."

Bonnie walks off towards her room without waiting for a response. Tomorrow it was then. You'll have an assistant in the form of your best friend, which luckily the princess will even pay for. You just finished up some additional writing for the alien. It would need editing before any of it got to the princess. Nothing was going wrong so far with the alien.

You just hope it doesn't freak when Bon Bon shows up.

Finishing your scroll, you roll it up and put it away. Afterwards, you quickly turn off all the lights in your house. Getting into your makeshift bed on the couch, you settle in for sleep. You couldn't wait to wake up and start the next day with the alien named Anunimuss.

~End Chapter Two~


	4. Chapter Three - Mare Look At That Body

Slam!

"Whaa!"

Thump!

"Oh you have GOT to be kidding me!"

Your second time falling off the couch and it once more involves Bon Bon. Darn mare, can't she ever exit the house more quietly? Getting up to your hooves with a groan, you shake off the sleep. It was a new day and that meant more studying of the alien!

Bon Bon probably won't be back until the afternoon, maybe sometime this evening. This gives you enough time to prepare for the rest of the week. You already know what it can eat and how much. You've still got to prove the humans harmless to you ponies, but how? Bonnie might have some ideas on that, since you can't think of anything right now.

It'll definitely be nice, having her around. She'll be a good counter point on things and can give off some suggestions. Plus, she'll be a good little assistant, doing anything you wanted! You chuckled at the thought, thinking of all the things you're gonna get her to do.

"Hehehehe…"

Clearing your throat from the silly thoughts appearing in your head, you went about starting another day with the alien. First things first, you feel really disgusting right now. And sweet Celestia you stink! When was the last time you had a nice hot bath? Thinking on it, it was probably the morning before finding the human… so almost two days now.

"Ewwww…"

Well, you can just sneak into Bonnie's room and use her bath! Surely she wouldn't mind. Digging through your possessions piled in the corner, you grab some soap, a big fluffy towel and a brush in your mouth before heading up to Bon Bon's room. Trying to enter Bon Bon's room, you see she locked the door. Why would she have a lock? Nopony owns any locks around the town! …Yours doesn't count its magic. Speaking of magic… A quick glow of your horn, and the door was now unlocked! Hot bath, here we-

Twang.

"Aaaah!"

And now you're in a net in the air. Bon Bon sure can set a good trap up. She must've set it up for the human last night, if it came in. No wait, she set these up to keep the human AND you out. Bonnie hated it when you went through her stuff, she really liked her privacy.

Still, the net is a bit overboard you thought. She must be more frightened of the alien than you think if she set up one of these. That's not gonna stop you from your bath! Your horn lights up and you cut a hole in the net. You lightly drop yourself through the hole-

Twang.

"Darn it Bonnie!"

She always had backups to everything. You kick your hooves in the netting, flinging you about as you screamed in anger. It didn't do anything to help the situation, but it felt really good. After a while, you calmed down, breathing hard from the flailing. It sure was tiresome work, yelling and bucking about. Looking around your friend's room, you can spot many, MANY more traps that are partially hidden. That's not including the ones that she actually took the time to hide around the place. She always liked being thorough in her work, you think.

…Maybe you can try showering in your room?

Shredding the net into little strips, just to show that thing who's boss, you plop onto the ground… Good, no more traps. You quickly leave, not wanting to set off any more. Unlocking your own door, you quietly open it. You hope the human doesn't wake up. You could see it's still sleeping, the aliens body turned away from you.

You'll just sneak in, take a quick bath, leave, and then yell at stupid Bon Bon for the stupid traps when she gets back! Locking the door, you silently move forward towards your bathroom. Just move lightly, and don't make a peep Lyra. You've done this before, getting by Bon Bon, so it shouldn't be too diff-

Thump.

"…Whyyyyyy?!" you groan out lying on the floor from tripping.

Why have you been so clumsy recently? Looking at where you tripped, you spot a little indention behind you on the floor. It was a pretty big one, hard to miss. And yet you missed it… Hey, wait a darn second! That's where you tripped yesterday!

A hateful glare is shot at the culprit responsible to tripping you up. You could totally feel the fear oozing from it, your menacing expression doing its job well. Ooh, you were so gonna make it regret tripping you by repairing it, thus ending its existence forever! Lighting your horn up for a simple reparation spell, you hear some noises beside you. Turning to the noise, you now see the alien is slung over to the side of the bed, looking at you.

…

Crap! You quickly turn off the glow in your horn, giving a light chuckle from being caught. Maybe it'll think it's just a trick on the eyes? Standing back up, you quickly snatch the items back in your mouth before staring at the alien. You blink at the alien. It blinks back in response.

You smile lightly at the human, which nearly drops your towel. The alien smiles back at you. Slowly, you move backwards from it towards your bathroom. Bumping into the door, you kick it open before entering. And then you slam it shut, locking it with magic. A sigh escapes your lips; you really hope it doesn't think too much on your magic. You wouldn't want to reveal too much and have it freak out.

Darn it Lyra, less thinking and more bath time!

After setting the bath and getting in, you could feel your muscles relaxing in the water. This felt so nice. The heat of the water melted into your body, further relaxing you. Oh yeah, just soak it all in Lyra.

"Hmm…"

You really wanted to enjoy this more, but you didn't want to keep the alien and you waiting on food that you sort of forgot about. You really hope the alien isn't upset about that. Scrubbing the icky dirt away, you could practically hear the muck on your body crying in agony. A splash from your tail slams water about, drowning their cries out. Their wails for mercy would remain unheard by your wicked aquamarine ears, which you totally knew mares all around were jealous of not having.

"Hehehehe."

Okay Lyra, enough playing around. Getting out of the bath, you use your magic to pull as much water off your body as possible. You'd use the gust spell for this, but you don't want to poof your mane out. That would look silly. You then take your towel and further dry yourself. There, now for some brushing. A few brush strokes to even out your fine mane and tail, and you're now ready for the day feeling absolutely awesome.

Stepping out of the bathroom with a light hum and a jump in your steps, you immediately halt your progression out the door. You totally forgot about the human! The alien sat there on the bed, staring at you. You smiled at human, waving at it; the human proceeded to imitate your actions. Trying to leave, you see Anunimuss is now staring at the towel laid across your back with soaps neatly bundled in them. The human raises a brow at that, looking back and forth from you to your bathroom, obviously trying to figure something out.

"~+Um, miss unicorn? Is there a…+~"

You see he immediately smacks his forehead after speaking to you. You're confused by the action.

"~+She can't understand you, remember?+~"

The human quickly starts moving its paws on its chest, as if it was scrubbing all over itself.

…

"Oh, you want to bathe too!"

The human just points back to the bathroom and the towel in your possession. Well, there was no harm in allowing that right? You now notice it's reeking just as strongly as you were. How did you not notice that before? You're not sure if it needs soap or if it even uses them, but it'll help with the horrid smell. How did you not notice the human reeked before? Undoing your towel, you take the bottled soap out and push it near the human's legs.

After grabbing the soap with its soft looking claws, it reals back from the bottle's image. What? It was just a mare with bubbly stuff in her fur. What was wrong with that? Anunimuss continues to stare for a while before slowly walking over to the bathroom and going inside, closing the door. Did the image somehow make it scared? It was just a picture, so that can't be right. Maybe if you remember to mention it to Bonnie she'll have an idea on it.

Well, the humans gonna need a towel to dry off and yours is wet. You better go get it a nice, dry, fluffy one. After digging around downstairs in your piled possessions, you find another towel. You immediately walk back upstairs with a smile. That bath sure put you in a good mood. Entering the room and locking the door, you go up to the bathrooms door. Sounds of continuous running water are heard inside. Guess he wanted a shower instead.

That makes sense to you; it was bipedal after all. So the human probably felt more comfortable standing up and showering. Opening the door, you walk inside the steamy room and place the towel on the counter. Looking on the ground, you see its garments strewn about; oh right, it wears clothes. It probably needs to since the fella doesn't seem to have any fur on him. But having dirty clothes risks the possibility of getting sick.

Quickly exiting the bathroom, you hop on downstairs and grab a hamper before returning upstairs to the bathroom. You see the human is now out of the shower, looking at the towel in a curious manner. When you came in, the alien immediately turns its head at you before hollering out and jumping back inside the tub. Anunimuss was stumbling about inside the bathtub, trying to cover himself for some reason. Welp, now you know the gender of the human. That was _definitely_ a he, no doubt about that one bit. Not that you were… _looking_ or anything.

…

You wonder why the human stumbled around like that. You wait a moment before realizing he must've been embarrassed being seen naked. But why should he feel that way? You were naked, and you certainly aren't embarrassed. Eh, you chalk it up to being a human behavior thing. You have to remember to write that down when you return downstairs. The human is waiting inside the tub, staring at you with a light flush on its face. You better leave before he starts yelling or forcing you to leave.

Snatching his disgusting clothing, you throw them in the hamper before leaving the bathroom. On a quick thought, you grab the blankets and take those as well. Thank Celestia for unicorn magic, you'll have these clean in a matter of minutes! It was just the preferred method cleaning by hoof, to get that nice smell and clean feel magic just can't accomplish.

You'll have to wash these in the kitchen sink, since you didn't want anypony wondering why you had such weird clothing items and raise suspicion. The blankets were first. It would give you time to inspect the aliens clothing real quick. A quick flash and the beddings start getting soaped up while being magically scrubbed. While that's being done, you take the human clothing out and lay them on the floor. You walk out for a second before coming back with your camera, taking pictures. Great, now with that done you can start inspecting them! A smell lingers on it, the body odor of an unclean human. It was so icky. Just ignore it Lyra, you can do it.

The top piece he was wearing before was shaped into a T. Other than that, there was nothing special about it. The bigger top piece was big and looked very warm to wear. It probably helped keep its heat with no fur. It had some strange textures on it, sort of like a cross-hatch pattern with different shades of blue. There were also these neat little pouches that were neatly sewn in.

You know Rarity would flip out seeing something like this. Maybe once you and the alien get to know one another, the two of you can make a small business on this? You notice a tag where the humans head would go. On it, you see some strange lines printed into it. Almost like it was there for a purpose…

Alien language!

You jump around, giggling with the thought of having found this completely by accident. This was so exciting! Running out to your desk, you write down exactly how it looks on a side scroll with the later thought on trying to translate it. This could help with the language barrier! After writing that down, you go back over to some more of its clothing. The small little bottom piece just reeked, so you left that alone.

"Ewwww…."

That was thrown over to the side joining the top pieces. The very big bottom piece looked muddy and worn out, but was very durable. It sort of looked like the top piece, but darker. It had additional pockets sewn into it. These humans must love holding things with them; you wonder what types of things would go in them. Wait a second here… there was something lumpy in there! Digging through the pocket, you find some strange materials in them.

Taking them out, you identify three alien items; one was flat and folded over, the second was a strange little gray rectangle with strong white noodles coming out of it, and the third was a cylindrical shaped item.

"Eeeeeh!" you squeal loudly, looking at the items.

Alien gear! What was their importance to the human? Did they do anything beneficial for its life? Did they make cool things cooler?! What did they do?! Oh, you had so many questions! Suddenly, you realize something. The human probably wouldn't appreciate you touching these. Also, you might injure them in the process of examining them. Well, that sucks. You really wanted to play with them!

…

You meant study, that's totally what you meant. You take some pictures of them; this'll have to do for now, until you get it to show you what they were. That left you with two more pieces. The first was really lumpy and hard. You saw they fit on the bottom of the human's legs. They looked just like boots and shoes, but a bit more… exotic looking. Rarity would totally have a spaz attack if she saw these. These were obviously not to be cleaned, if they were even remotely like your boots and shoes. Those go to the side. And that left the last item, a small pair of baggies that was inside the exotic shoes. They looked like stockings, but more like clothing. Okay, this one was really weird, what were they?

Shaking your head, you stop trying to think about them. You're getting distracted Lyra, you need to clean these clothes! You levitate all the clothing over to the sink before you started to magically clean them. Washy, washy; clean them all up! Then you blow dry them with a magical gust spell. That does the trick! So quick and easy to clean with magic! You levitate the clothing straight into the hamper… except for those two little baggie pieces. They look like they'd fit your hooves.

…You won't tell the alien, and he'll probably never find out. You slip them on to your front hooves without any trouble. They're quite snug on them. And they even dampen any sounds from your hooves! Ooh, they feel so nice. You have _got_ to get Rarity to make more of these, well, whatever they are! Wish you had some for your back legs, and then you'd be super-duper comfortable! You wonder if you can get them in green.

…

You better take these off. Anunimuss is probably waiting on his clothing. Throwing his little leg things in the hamper, you quickly make it back up to the room. Once in the room, you hastily throw the beddings back onto the bed. You also put the human's items on the bed, lined up in a row so he wouldn't freak out. You wouldn't want him screaming and hollering for his devices.

You also shouldn't need to clean those beddings for a good while. Unless it did something gross on the bed, like marking its territory. Oh please don't have the human do that, that'd be really icky! Opening the bathroom door, you slowly turn your head around the entrance, making sure it wasn't upset with you coming in. The human was standing up, leaning his back against the wall, looking at you with a red face. Anunimuss was really struggling to hold the towel at mid-level on its body.

You should've thought of giving the fella a bigger towel. He appears to be very embarrassed at the moment. The human must not like being naked at all. Well that's silly; he wouldn't have that problem if he just tucked himself away in his sheath. Wait, do humans even have sheaths? You don't recall seeing one, but you weren't looking down there so… great, now you're red just thinking about that!

You shake your head away from those thoughts. The human didn't look very happy with nothing to wear but your itty bitty towel. He's probably very cold without any fur. You push the hamper to the human, allowing him to grab them as you sat down.

The two of you stare at one another in complete silence. The human looked very uncomfortable with you staring at him. He shakes the clothes bundled in his arms before pointing at you, then the door. Does he want privacy to change? He must be very shy, you think while grabbing the hamper and leaving.

You have nothing else to do now. Guess you'll return downstairs and get some food made up for the both of you before writing down what you noticed so far.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

It's been a few hours since you've fed the human. He seemed happy when you came up with more eggs and bread. He made a sandwich of them to hold the food and eat. You wonder if you should get the alien some utensils. For the most part you've left Anunimuss alone, only to check up every hour to keep an eye on him.

The human looked bored out of his mind, but there wasn't much you could do to help with that. Maybe you and Bon Bon can figure out how to keep him preoccupied in there later? You've been writing in your scrolls to better organize what was needed to send to the princess. Copies of the pictures you've taken have also been set aside.

Writing in your scrolls, they were the only thing that somehow got you to zone out and pass the time without too much notice. Before you knew it the entire afternoon was all but gone. You hear Bon Bon entering the house, announcing herself.

"Hey Lyra, just go-"

Splat.

You threw your lettuce and tomato sandwich at her face you were just eating.

"Why'd you set all those stupid traps up!"

…You could have asked nicely, but this felt much better. Bon Bon wipes the mess off her face before throwing it in the trash.

"Can you blame me? I'm still not entirely convinced that _thing_ won't come out and start going crazy on us!"

"That's what we're here for Bonnie! To make sure that doesn't happen with its arrival here! And to study him, of course."

"Sure, fine. Just don't make me regret closing my stand to assist you here." She looks around at the room with a grimace. "Why haven't you picked up yet?"

You thought you did a pretty darn good job of piling everything into a corner. Guess Bonnie disagrees with that.

"I was busy writing my scrolls to do much else, that and having to shower in my room cause of you and your traps. And no, it didn't try anything to me when I went in. If anything, the human was very shy and embarrassed when I left it there to take his own shower."

You wave her over to your desk before presenting the pictures you had taken of its clothing and items. She looks them over before pausing at the items, a confused expression read on her face.

"What are those?"

"I'm not sure; I figure I'll ask the human later on after we teach him our language."

"If that's even possible, you don't even know if it's possible."

"Hey! He learned my name! So I'm certain he can."

"Fine, fine." She looks over at the pictures once more. "Have you considered how to get the alien more clothing when these start wearing out? Or extra clothing for it to change into some new stuff?"

Your quill stops mid-word on the scroll. "I… may have not considered that."

Bon Bon nods her head at that before walking right beside you. "And that's what I'm here for, to assist you. You may be fairly adept to knowledge on foreign relations, aliens and other such things. But you can be pretty forgetful Lyra."

Thinking on that, you put the scroll you were just writing on aside before pulling out a new one. "Okay then, what do you think should be done soon, as in the next week or so?"

Bon Bon tilts her head down in thought for a moment before turning back to you. "Well, clothes are a must for this thing. So we'll probably need Rarity to make some. You have pictures, so that'll help making more."

"We don't have the bits yet but I can put that in the next scroll on what will be needed. Next week we'll talk to Rarity. And we're gonna have to convince her NOT to let Twilight know about the alien at all. It would be best if she doesn't meet it until the very last moment, after we convince everypony he's not harmful.

"Not convince but prove Lyra. Anyways, the next thing to do is probably to see what its diet will consist of in the future, along with health checks. Fluttershy's a good choice for that. She's good with animals, so it shouldn't be too hard to have her come over with the idea of meeting a new species. She might be scared on first contact, though, so we'll have to keep her fears in check. We can have her come over much sooner than we have to pay her, which we will for her help, it shouldn't be too hard for her to wait on it."

You're writing this stuff done at breakneck speed trying to get every word down. Clothes from Rarity, health check from Fluttershy.

"And that leaves us two with just about everything else. Language should be a priority to communicate with it. We'll also need to check on magical afflictions, and if it will be harmed when dealt with magic."

"Um… I may have transported it here with magic Bonnie," you say with a sheepish grin.

She slaps a hoof to her face before looking back at you. "You're so lucky the thing didn't explode from that!"

"Hehehe, yeah..."

"At least we don't have to worry about colds or diseases too much."

"And why's that?" you ask.

You see Bon Bons face turn white at an alarming rate. Her teeth were clenched hard as her body went stiff.

"You didn't use that darn spell on it?!"

"Spell?"

…

Your eyes widen immediately, understanding what she was talking about. That was supposed to be the first thing you did when you met an actual alien! It was a spell to check if any foreign bacteria or materials from an alien could harm anypony. That was the only reason you learned the stupid spell! Bon Bon's now hyperventilating, her body shaking in fear. You remember telling her what might happen if there was anything that could damage you ponies; it wasn't a very nice image.

"Look I can do it right now, just calm down Bonnie… okay?"

You really hated it when she lost her cool like this. It was very rare, and it only happened when things went out of her control or they couldn't be controlled like this. The only solution was to fix the problem quickly. You preferred stuffy, level-headed Bonnie; not the Bonnie standing here. This one could get very reckless.

"I'm coming up with you to make sure nothing's missed when you do it, you got that!"

"That's fine Bonnie. How should I go about this? He hasn't really seen magic as of yet, and we don't know what it will do to him internally.."

"As calmly as you can. If it reacts, I'll jump on its body and keep jumping until it's knocked out. And who the buck cares if it gets hurt at this point, I'm more worried about us right now!"

"But what if the spell hurts him or-"

"Look Lyra, I'm pretty sure if you don't dump magic into its head that… the alien should be perfectly fine. You did levitate it here so it's possible magic isn't that harmful. Besides, I could care less if it implodes on itself and the room is dyed red the moment you start your magic, so long as it doesn't hurt anypony from whatever it carries!"

Eeesh! Reckless Bonnie can be a scary Bonnie sometimes. As the two of you make it up the stairs to your room, Bon Bon quickly zips in her room for a second before coming back out.

"Are you wearing a lab coat?"

"Yes, it makes me feel much better about this situation right now."

"How'd you get a lab coat?"

She doesn't answer you. Bon Bon continues staring ahead at the door, waiting for you to unlock it. Just go with it Lyra, don't question where she gets this weird stuff. The two of you enter the doorway, entering a room you hoped isn't filled with bacterial death.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Anon's POV~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored; you were so damn bored! The unicorn came back in the morning, apparently to take a bath. It felt like a good time to get one yourself, so you did your best to show you wanted one as well. She gave you a bottle of soap with a picture of what looked like a small horse playing in bubbles printed on it. How that was even possible?! The whole thing just blew you away. So they sold merchandise like this here?

That meant there was the possibility of an entire industry line making similar stuff. Did the unicorns run them? Later on, the unicorn came back in with the smallest fucking towel you'd ever seen. It looked more like a hand towel to you. And damn it all to hell, there was no shower curtain! She didn't look very embarrassed at seeing you there naked. You quickly covered yourself up with her tiny towel; you went tumbling all over the tub from your efforts.

You guess it made sense why she wouldn't feel embarrassed. She did walk around naked like that all the time. It felt very embarrassing to even think of yourself doing the same thing. You'll keep wearing clothes instead. Of course she took those with her…

When she came back they were clean, that was nice of her. You tried smiling to show your appreciation but you were still too embarrassed to do much. You were glad she gave back your items as well. Your iPod was about dead, and the wallet was the only thing left to remind you of home with pictures. She came back with some food later on, leaving once you were finished eating. It looked like she needed to do something, work maybe? Do unicorns work?

You wouldn't have thought unicorns worked, except for the fact that you saw that bottle of soap. If things like that were around, maybe it was possible she worked? Or did she have others work for her, and she did other things for them? That bottle felt like it was made of really well polished wood, but it looked and felt just like plastic. It was a nice touch, you thought. It was really creepy that you could actually squeeze the thing like plastic, now things were just getting absurd.

It's been several hours since the unicorn had done anything with you. She popped in every now and then, but otherwise left you alone. Sitting around doing nothing sucked. You would have listened to music, but you didn't want to kill off the last of your battery if you could help it. So you just lied around, thinking of your current situation with the unicorn. After a few hours of doing absolutely nothing, the door clicked open with the unicorn Lyra coming in.

You sat up looking at her before noticing another unicorn coming in. No, wait. That wasn't a unicorn, there was no horn. So was it a small horse? Or maybe they grew horns, and this one hadn't done so yet? This one had a pale yellowish coat on her body with a very strange hairdo that was colored with different hard shades of purple. She looked very serious to you. The small horse was wearing what looked like a long white coat fit for her. Was she a horse scientist or something? She might be here to check up on you. Or maybe Lyra was also a scientist herself, and this was a coworker?

"~+Go ahead Lyra, do your spell.+~"

"~+Just hold on Bon Bon I need to do it slowly! I don't want the human to freak out.+~"

Something must have them worried from the sounds of their voices. The unicorn slowly walks up to you until she stood only a few inches away.

"~+Please don't be scared,+~" she spoke in a calm manner to you. You wish you could understand her.

She tilts her head down, pointing her horn in your direction. Oh dear god was she going to stab you?! You hold on to the bed tightly, hoping this wasn't the case. The other small horse just looked at you like she would jump you at any signs of movement.

Suddenly, Lyra's horn begins to glow in a greenish manner before turning white. There was pulsing a light coming out of it. The light jolts out and hits you square in the stomach where you were sitting. You felt this strange, tingly sensation. Was… was she purifying you?! You remember the stories about unicorns and how they could purify just about anything. Was this what she was doing to you?

The tingly sensation immediately spread out across your body from your stomach into the rest of your body. It felt very nice and relaxing. You close your eyes, trying to enjoy this strange sensation hitting you. The strange glow spread into every pore of your body. From your fingertips all the way to the top of your scalp, it hit everything with different sensations.

Some of it tried hitting your head, but it immediately contracted away once you started feeling pain. Yeah, you'd rather not feel that again. Her purification made your heart slow down and relaxed it to a calming lull. Your throat straightened out and allowed more air in. The muscles on your body felt like they were contracting quickly in small doses.

Your entire body felt like it was exploding with so many different sensations hitting it at once. As quickly as it came, it immediately went away in a flash. You slump over, breathing hard from being taken out of that so quickly. Just what was that? Opening your eyes, you see the unicorn standing below you. She was staring up at you with teary eyes and what looked like concern.

"~+Are you okay?+~" she spoke barely loud enough for you to hear.

You smile down at her not understanding what she said. Then, darkness.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Lyra's POV~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Oomph!"

The human landed on top of you falling unconscious, probably from your spell. The spell must have tired him out, you thought.

"Lyra!"

Bon Bon immediately ran up to you, thinking you were in danger. You wave her away before levitating the human's body off of you and back onto the bed. "I'm fine Bonnie, the human just got tired and fell asleep, that's all."

"Sorry. It looked like it was attacking you," she said, looking very embarrassed at her reaction.

A smile spread on your face before a giggle slipped out. Silly Bonnie! She might be scared, but she'd always look out for her friends. Bon Bon just sighs to herself before dragging you back down the stairs, after you lock the door of course. Reaching downstairs, she quickly turns around to you. "Well, what did the spell say?"

"Silly, spells don't speak!"

She gives you a deadpan stare from your remark. You guess she wasn't in a joking mood right now.

"Fiiiine. The human is safe; his body has already adapted to our planet, which is very surprising. In fact, it looks like some of our magic is slowly being absorbed into him, which is helping his immune system."

Bon Bon seems to relax hearing that. She must've been really stressed out back there. "Not surprising, I guess. Everything here has magic in it, so it was only a matter of time before the alien absorbed some."

It's not like magic would've done much else. The human would never be able to cast spells or anything. The magic would just allow it to live in harmony alongside everything else.

"Okay. So with that out of the way, what should we do next?"

The two of you go back to your desk, holding the scrolls you've written down to read some suggestions.

"Rarity won't be included for a while, not until we get some bits. We should probably feed it and then go out to Fluttershy's shack to get her assessment on the alien."

"I suppose that sounds fine. I don't like the thought of too many ponies knowing about him, but I don't think Fluttershy would gossip."

"No we'd have to worry about Rarity for that one, and I'm pretty sure we can convince her to be quiet if we say this is for the princess."

"I haven't talked to Flutters in such a long time! I still need to thank her for all her help back at the academy. She would be excited to see a new creature too!"

You both decide to go out to Fluttershy's cabin before it got dark. You make the human a quick meal and place it inside the room so he'll see it when he wakes up. With that done, the two of you exit the house, making your way to Fluttershy's shack.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

It didn't take long reaching Fluttershy's home... though you wish it wasn't under the stares of everypony in town along the way.

"Booooniiiee, why did you keep wearing the lab coat?"

"Because."

Stupid Bonnie…

Fluttershy's house was active with the movements of animals running about everywhere. It didn't take long to find the yellow pegasus feeding her animals.

"Hey Flutters!" you yell, waving a hoof at her.

She turns her head to the two of you, a small, shy smile spotting who it was. She quickly puts the food out to the animals in a graceful hurry before greeting you both.

"Um, hello Lyra… Bon Bon… how are you two doing today?"

She sounded just as quiet and shy as you remembered her. Wow, it's been a while since you've spoken to her hasn't it?

"Lyra and I was talking to one another, and thought you could help us with a problem we had."

"Oh?!" she exclaims, surprised to hear that. "We should talk in my house so you can tell me about your problems; it would be rude of me not to help a friend in need. Please, come in."

She doesn't give you time to reply as she turns around and enters her house, the two of you following behind. Her house smelled of animals and forestry everywhere. You could see animals scurrying about all over the place. Fluttershy was walking into what looked like her kitchen.

"Um, you two can sit on the couch while I bring out refreshments."

You and Bon Bon look at one another for a second before walking over to the couch. It felt surprisingly soft and not of stinky animal hair. Looking around, you watch the animals running around in and out of the home. It's pretty hectic, watching them zipping about the place. Does Fluttershy not get tired of all this?

You were so glad that bunny wasn't around. The two of you just didn't get along. You'd fling him into some food with magic. He'd get you back by dowsing you in water. The two of you just didn't like one another. He liked Bonnie though, and always made sure to be nice to her, especially when you were around. Stupid Angel, stupid Bonnie….

Fluttershy returns with a tray held in her mouth with three cups and a kettle of tea. She appeared as graceful as ever, though you knew she'd argue about that if it was brought up. After pouring the three of you tea, she sits herself down on a stool across the two of you. Hmm, raspberry flavor.

"Oh Fluttershy! I wanted to thank you from back before with your help on getting me to understand animals. It really helped me out getting my job and all."

"Oh! Um, well, I'm certain you would've gotten it even without my help…"

"Nonsense! You were a big help so don't sell yourself short on that, got it!"

She seemed very embarrassed hearing that. Guess she still has a major dose of the shy's in her. It wouldn't be Fluttershy without it. You clear your throat out to speak clearer.

"You're an awesome mare Flutters! Why, any stallion would definitely dig a gal like you!"

Her face turned very red along with her words sputtering out from what you said. What you said didn't really have anything to do with your visit, but it sure was fun seeing her turn red like that.

"So, um… you said you needed help with something?" she asks, trying to veer away from the compliments.

You nod at that before taking another sip of your tea; raspberry tea was so awesome tasting.

"Yeah, we both were discussing something that needed to be done and thought you could help us with it," Bon Bon says after taking a sip of tea.

"You can NOT tell anypony about it though!" you say roughly. "It needs to be kept quiet for the time being okay? It would be bad to have it known what was in our house."

Fluttershy looks a bit frightened at what you said, almost like what you needed done was dangerous. In a sense it was, but you doubt the human would attack her. Bon Bon turns and gives you a glare. You let out a nervous grin before going back to your drink.

"We just need to make sure nopony knows what we're doing until Princess Celestia can get more information on what is happening. Pretty much, we have a… new species in our home that needs some assessing. We thought if anypony could help with that it would be you."

Now you had her attention. If there was anything that would pull her into doing something, it would be animals in general.

"A new species! Oh that just sounds like fun to meet a new critter. The creature's not hurt or anything is it?"

"No, but we need to know more on what we should feed it and how to go about caring for it."

"Um… well you could just, let it live here and I would watch it for you?"

"No, it needs to stay in our house. The creature is still being studied and it's up to Lyra to get that out to the princess. And I don't think it would be very… happy about being treated like the animals here."

Fluttershy now looked confused. She probably thought it was a regular animal like those she had cared for.

"We can discuss what we know about, but if you agree to this we need to let you not talk about this to anypony on the creature. Especially Twilight, she is not to ever find out from you okay?"

"I'm… not sure why it needs to be kept secret, but if it's to help a creature in need, then I'll do my best to help."

"Glad to have your help Fluttershy" Bon Bon says with a smile. "We can discuss more on what we know back at our place. It really is best if nopony overhears what we have to say."

She really doesn't like not knowing what you wouldn't say to her, she looked very interested though. Finishing your tea, the two of you wait on Fluttershy to return her dishes before exiting her house. The animals all crowd around the yellow mare, making it difficult for her to leave.

"Don't you fella's worry. I'll be back very soon."

"Yeah, yeah now let's go and get back to t-"

Thump.

"Whyyyyyyyyyyy?!" you cry out on the ground.

Turning your head, you notice your hooves had tripped on some string… along with a familiar looking bunny hopping away very quickly. You were so gonna get it next time, you'll tie it up by its ears to a tree for this!

"Lyra," Bonnie said in an annoyed tone. "Stop being so clumsy all the time! Now let's get moving."

You grumble to yourself before getting up and walking back out to Ponyville with the two. It was starting to get dark, which Fluttershy commented on. She couldn't stay too long but would be helpful coming by to check on it. The three of you arrive, entering your place; Fluttershy looks at the mess that was your pile of stuff over in the corner curiously before looking back to you.

"Yeah, the creature is in my room for the time being to keep him held there. I had to take my stuff out so he wouldn't go through them."

"Oh my!" she says in astonished quietness. Only Fluttershy could've pulled that off. "Is it really that dangerous?!"

"Not…exactly. See, the reason that this couldn't be discussed out in town is be-"

"Because it's an alien!" you yell out.

Bon Bon stares at you from the interruption, a glare shot at you. What? You really wanted to say that! Fluttershy gives off a small smile at you. She doesn't seem to believe you… Bonnie turns back to Fluttershy, doing her best to continue what she had to say.

"What Lyra just said is actually true. She found it in the Everfree and brought it back. She's been keeping it safe and studying it until we can teach it to talk to us."

"I even got Princess Celestia's approval on this if you want to see the scroll!"

You quickly levitated a scroll from the desk it was held in and unfurled it midair, shoving the thing in front of Fluttershy's face. She reels back quickly from the unexpected intrusion to her space. She settles down quickly enough and reads through your scroll, her eyes widening from it.

"So there's really an alien creature in your room!"

"Totally! And we're asking for your help to see to its health and diet. We can even get the princess to pay you for your help!"

"Um… I don't know, I thought that it… was an animal and…"

She slowly trails off looking very concerned about meeting the alien. You try to meet her sights, but she looks off to the side. Crud, how do you get this mare to help you out?!

…

"Fluttershy?" you say to her.

She keeps her head down but turns her eyes to you, her hair covering most of her head.

"We really need your help here Flutters. Taking him to the hospital would possibly endanger him until we can get him acclimated to our society. Nopony else in Ponyville has the expertise or skill that can match up to you!"

Fluttershy slowly begun turning red from your praising her; that mare could not take a compliment. Still, it was working, now for the kicker.

"If you don't help out, there's a very good chance he might die. You… you wouldn't just leave him like that, would you?"

It's not exactly likely he'd die, but it could happen. Most likely to happen would be his health would drop without a proper check-up over time. Still, that last bit seemed to work getting her to pick up her confidence on dealing with it. She takes a gulp of air before turning to you.

"… o-o … okay I can d-do my best and help it," she stuttered out with a shake in her body.

You smile at that before walking up to her and patting her side. "Well, just follow me so we can do this quickly. Bonnie, you should probably get rid of your traps…"

You said that last bit strangled out. Those traps are such a pain to get by. You walk up the stairs with Fluttershy taking small shaky steps. You stare down at her walking up. How in the hay did she make even _that_ look graceful?! Whatever, not like you care… much.

The two of you walk inside the room where the alien was staying. Once inside, the two of you see that the human is sitting up once more on the bed, his back against the wall and looking in your direction. He still looked tired from your spell, but didn't seem upset at all. In fact he almost looked, happy? Anunimuss waves to you both before directly staring at Fluttershy; it looks like his stare is directed at her wings. Her eyes widen from the sight of the human sitting there.

"That's, um, a very big alien…"

To you ponies, that's true. His legs were barely reaching the end of the bed he was sitting on. You nudge Fluttershy in his direction, making her jolt from the contact with a jump.

"Heh, sorry. Anyways we need you to do your job, okay?"

She looks back to you in worry from what you said, then over to the alien. Maybe you shouldn't have said that. Swallowing a gulp of air, she shakily makes her way to the human. Standing in front of the alien, she does her best to lift her head up to look at him.

"Um… can you please sit up, Mr. Alien?" She waves her hoof up at it to the edge of the bed and waves it about. Looking at her actions, the human turns and sits up in front of her. Did he understand her?!

"We should probably start with what he should eat…"

"Yeah the alien ate some eggs and fruits, but not hay or flowers."

"Hmmm, please open your mouth Mr. Alien." She waves another hoof near her mouth pointing at it, then to the humans.

The human blinks at that before bending down to her and opening his mouth. She carefully looks inside and slowly looks at the teeth and mouth size. Ooh, you wish you'd brought up some paper for this! She continues along with the rest of her checkup, directing the human around for her. Ears, nose, eyes, soft claws, bottom hooves; it amazes you how she's able to communicate with him well enough to do this.

"Uh, wait a second Fluttershy," you say noticing what she was doing now. "The alien doesn't like his clothes off."

"W, well how am I supposed to check his body?"

"I dunno, but the guy doesn't have any fur at all on his body. And he feels embarrassed being naked."

"Why should it feel embarrassed at that? I, well I mean we're not clothed."

"The alien, unlike us or other creatures from the looks of it, doesn't have a way to… well… hide himself like us down there."

It takes her a moment to realize what you meant; a red flushed face is her reaction to it. "Oh, oh my! Not even like a minotaur?"

"No fur on his body, no way to hide his stallionhood. I, well I didn't properly check if he had a sheath but he was hiding himself earlier. I don't think he would have one, otherwise he would have put it away and not care too much…"

Her ears are creeping up in red just thinking about this topic. You can feel yourself getting a bit flushed too.

"Um, I guess I can try and do some simple checks with its clothes on. But you really should get it fully checked out later."

Once again, she somehow orders him into complying with her into lying down. She continuously pushes her hooves all around his body, checking for anything that could be wrong. After finishing, the two of you exit the room returning back downstairs.

"Well, is he fine?"

"The… the checkup was still not very thorough, like a doctor pony could do it. You would need to keep checking back on him to make sure he's perfectly fine. He doesn't seem to be in any pain right now. His body seems to be in order, no broken bones or anything like that. He does have a bruise on his right flank though."

You recall the human hurrying to get inside the bath quickly; did he fall there and get that? Might've been how he got it.

"Oh, and he also looked very tired. You need to give it more rest whatever you're doing to… keep it up…"

Yeah, that one was the spell. She looked away from you after saying that. It almost like she was embarrassed at what she said… weird.

"Other than that, I suppose treat him more like a minotaur but without fur, or horns. He'll need daily showers, and his clothes will need to be cleaned at least every other day until he gets some new ones."

She pauses after saying, that looking away.

"So everything's good?" you ask trying to get back on track. She nods her head yes. "Okay then, what about food?"

"The um, alien. He has some canines in his mouth so he'll need some form of meat, or protein. You said you fed him eggs so, um, that should do just well for that. You also mentioned he ate apples so that would mean he can get food from different sources. Try and give him some other types of grains and maybe some vegetables. And for a being that size, he'll probably need somewhere around three meals a day like us but in larger portions like that of a minotaur. I'm, not sure how you'll afford that…"

"Oh don't worry about that. We already mentioned that the princess will help hoof the bill there. We'll send out to get you paid as well for a checkup every few days, okay?"

"Y-you want me to come back?!" She sounded frightened there. But she was doing so well before checking up on it.

"Well yeah. We're putting in a lot of trust that you would be able to help us out until we can officially get him a checkup at the doctors. Hay, we'll get it to talk to you when the alien can speak our language."

"Oh um, okay then. I really should be getting back to my animals. They're probably worried I'm not there… or something…"

That sounded more like a shoddy excuse to get away from the human. As she exits the door a thought quickly pops up in your head.

"Hey Flutters, just how did get him to do what you wanted? Did you have him understand you or something?"

She turns to you before looking off to the side.

"Well… I just did what I always do. Be polite and nice and to try to get the critter to understand what you need of it. He, he seemed to understand what I wanted with some hoof gestures I made."

"But wait, how did you get him to do them in the first place?"

"…I guess he was being polite back."

Fluttershy quickly exits with that. Hopefully whatever fear that was in her from the alien would go away soon if she was going to help you out long term. Sitting back at your desk, you quickly wrote up what seemed important to have written down from that day. You also plan out a new diet to try out for the human along with some simple ideas on getting it to learn your language.

You would need to put in Fluttershy's involvement and soon to be Rarity's. Oh Celestia, you hoped that mare will keep her mouth shut! There was still another five days left to deal with it before you needed to report back to the princess. You needed to have a nice tidy document along with some pictures for aid. You're happily writing down some thoughts on the human's behavior before front door opens, letting the cool air in. Bonnie walks in with a small bag of food stuffs in her saddle bags. Did she leave without you noticing?

"Lyra, have you been sitting there the entire time since I left?"

Apparently so. "I was writing down some more stuff on the alien from today, guess I lost track of time."

"Did you feed it dinner yet?!"

"What?" Looking out the window you see it's now nighttime. Your clock on the wall read off a little after eight.

"I forgot to feed the alien!" you cry out loudly.

You fling all your stuff around with magic to better emphasize how badly you felt about forgetting the human's meal. You personally flip your table over in a huff. The thing flips about before landing in a booming thud. Ooooooh that felt good! A scream of anger hollered out is thrown in; that's really important there, you mustn't forget that! With all the stuff cluttered about you think you got your point across.

"Quick Bonnie, to the kitchen!"

You trot off into said room, a groan let out from Bon Bon whom is following you. Fluttershy said to try some other food. Would he like a lettuce and tomato sandwich? You had all week to try and figure out a good diet for the human. You really hope he's not mad at you for forgetting to feed him. Meh, if the human looks angry, you'll just make it out like its Bon Bon's fault! Yes, she shall take the fall!

"Let's just hurry up with the meal Lyra."

Right, you needed to hurry and get that done so you could write more stuff down and then sleep. You needed to be rested for tomorrow morning. Hopefully, the next few days will go by smoothly trying to teach him.

~End Chapter Three~


	5. Chapter Four - The Alphabet For Dummies

So, you're time here so far sure has been interesting. You met two new horses, one without a horn and one with wings. They were very colorful to you. Like someone had eaten a box of crayons and threw up on two miniature horses. The yellow one with the wings was extremely shy and also very touchy when she had gone over you like she was doing a checkup. She had come by every day for the last five days, going over the exact same thing each time.

The other horse, the hornless one, looked way to serious around you, almost like you were an annoyance she had to deal with. She really loved wearing lab coats as well. She did keep the unicorn, Lyra, from overstepping certain boundaries on you such as when she tried to steal your clothes again. These past five days weren't all that bad. They at least kept you fed. Plus, it was interesting to be around a different race of sentient horses strange as that sounded.

You wish they'd give you some time to yourself though…

"~+Puuuuuuddddiiiiiiinnnnggggg!+~"

…Like right now.

"~+Say it with me now, pudding!"

The unicorn shoves some strange glopped dish into your general direction, its contents giving a light jiggle.

"~+Come on, I know you can do it! Puuuuddiiing!+~" She moves the strange glop around in a circle in front of you.

"~+You can have some pudding if you say it! Good pudding, yummy pudding, yay pudding!+~"

They were obviously trying to teach you to speak their language but you felt she was going at it the wrong way. It was difficult picking out what exactly she was trying to teach you at all. Lyra moves the item in and out of your face with a smile. You give a flat look over to the hornless horse, which she returns in kind.

"~+Lyra I don't think the alien likes pudding or what you're doing at all. And why would you try and teach it that word anyways?+~"

The unicorn flashes her horn and levitates it up to the little tray of other items they brought into the room with them. There's something else to be looked into, that horn of hers. Ever since the purification they did on you, the unicorn started doing other strange things involving what could best be described as magic. It's not like you could think of it as anything else but magic. It gave you a fresh case of don't fuck with the unicorn. She probably won't gore you out if you do anything threatening, she'll just tear into you with magic. That thought would scare you more if she didn't act weird around you.

"~+I don't know, I have no idea how to get him to learn our language! So I got hungry from thinking on it and thought hey, maybe the alien would like some pudding! So I tried to make him learn and eat!+~"

The lab coat wearing horse groans at whatever it was Lyra just said. It must've been either annoying or stupid, you thought.

"~+It's been five days of this Lyra, and all its picked up was some offhanded words you weren't even trying to teach it, like bathroom.+~"

"~+…Sooooo what you're trying to say is… I should take a bath with Anunimuss while teaching him?+~"

"~+What? No that's not what I'm saying! I just think you're going at it the wrong way here.+~"

"~+So what way SHOULD I go about this then! You're the assistant, assist me!+~"

The two little horses seem to be bickering with one another now. Maybe it was for that glop from before? A grumble hit your stomach, which you only heard. They forgot to feed you… again. You did see Lyra eat some of the goopy stuff, so it couldn't be worse than the hay right? Grabbing the dish you take a sniff at its contents. It smelled sort of like vanilla, you thought. Wish there was a spoon to help eat here. Scooping some of it out with your fingers you quickly eat the stuff hoping for the best. And what do you know, it's vanilla flavored pudding. Or, at least it tastes exactly like pudding to you.

Whap!

"Gah!"

You drop that shit quickly. The dish levitates before hitting the ground right back to the cart. The unicorn had her scroll wound up and had smacked your head with it.

"~+No, bad Anunimuss! You don't get any until you say the word!"

You really fucking hated that scroll so much. Why did she keep hitting you with that thing?

"~+Lyra you didn't feed the alien so I'm pretty sure it's hungry.+~"

"~+And I have his food right here, which he will get after he says pudding!~+"

The hornless horse for some reason smacks herself in the face with a hoof before a grumble of unintelligible words stream out.

"~+Okay, that's not happening. Here's what's gonna happen. You are going to give the alien the food, and we are going to go back downstairs and discuss a better way to teaching the alien, got it?+~"

"~+No! I wanna stay here!+~"

The lab coat wearing horse walks over to Lyra and bites on the end of her tail before dragging her through the door. The unicorn flops down on her stomach before doing her best to dig her hooves into the hardwood floor in an attempt to stop from being moved.

"~+Nooooo! I wanna stay and talk to the human!+~"

"~+It can't even understand you! Now lock the door on our way out.+~"

The two exit the room with the unicorn hollering the entire way before the door closes with a click, telling you it was once more locked. These horses were just so weird. Thankfully, it was only the two of them with small visits from a third, shyer one. You're not sure what you would do if you had to meet a full settlement of them. Looking over, you spot the tray they left hungrily with a grumble in your stomach. Well, at least they left the food here. There was nothing but a stack of eggs, as usual, along with the pudding. You were getting tired of eggs, but they'll do for now. Not like you can argue or anything on it.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Lyra's POV~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Let me go!"

"No!"

"Nyaaaaaaaa!" you wail out in protest.

Bonnie ignores it while dragging you down the steps of the stairs, each thump being met with your sliding tummy. Once at the bottom, Bonnie drags you into the living room and throws your body in the air towards the couch. You land there in a thump. You let out a humph, pouting at not getting your way.

"Lyra, you asked for help from me remember? But I'm not going to sit by and let you buck up yourself with your actions."

"What are you talking about? I know what I'm doing!"

Bon Bon groans before walking over to the couch and plopping herself beside you on it.

"Look, I know you are an intelligent mare, but you don't know the first thing about teaching at ALL! We need some advice from somepony somewhere on what we should do. And as your assistant, you need to listen to what I can suggest and help with, and not just order me around on some stupid errand, like picking you up some donuts!"

You grin sheepishly at that. You _have_ been ordering her around, doing odd tasks you were too lazy to do.

….

"Well, fine I guess." You muttered out.

Bonnie smiles at that, it must be nice to get her way.

"So what would you suggest then?" you ask.

"The only thing I can come up with for advice on teaching it better is trying to either talk to Twilight-"

You loudly hiss at Bonnie hearing that name. How dare she even mention that mare in your presence!

"…Or, we can talk to Cheerilee about this."

Yes… that could work. She does know a thing or two about teaching, what with her being a teacher and all.

"I suppose Cheerilee would be a good option. So I guess I'll go over and talk to Cheerilee on how to teach while you go out and get us some snacks!"

"Lyra, remember me stating my dislike to you ordering me around like that?"

"Ugh, fiiiine," you grunt out walking to the door. "I'll get the snacks and YOU can talk to Cheerilee!"

"Wait, that's not what I-"

Slam!

Too late! The doors already closed with you hopping down the road to the market. You needed your daily fix of snacks and you needed to get them, NOW!

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Uuuuugh…"

Too, many… mango smoothies… You're sitting down on a bench, groaning from the nasty tummy ache you now have. At least you got your bag of snacks for later. You just wish that stupid smoothie vendor didn't talk you into those darn delicious smoothies! So yeah, sitting down on the bench while trying to wait out your pains seem like a good idea right now. Everypony walking by gave you looks at how you sat.

What? It was obvious the human's way of sitting was far superior to your own. They shouldn't judge you for picking the better sitting position. Stop judging me!

"Don't judge me!" you scream out loud, frightening a filly and her mom walking by.

They give you a look before walking away from you in a quick pace. A sigh escapes your lips before you take another sip of your smoothie. Why do you still have this stupid drink? It's just gonna give you more tummy aches so stop drinking it! Nope, you continue slurping through your straw, sucking up the blended drink of awesome yumminess. It's like it wouldn't let you stop! Stupid, delicious smoothies, you thought.

Spotting a flash of yellow, you quickly see its Fluttershy standing in front of a stand trying to buy something. Oh good, she left too quickly this morning for you to speak with her about tonight. This was a good a chance to talk to her about that. Jumping off the bench while doing your best to ignore the aching pains in your stomach, you walk over to Fluttershy, levitating your drink along the way to take an occasional sip from it.

"Hey Flutters!" you call out to her.

She jumps a little from that, her wings fluttering about from the scare. Upon noticing you she lets out a sigh before walking over.

"Hello Lyra. And how are you doing this afternoon?" she said in a quiet tone.

"Oh not bad myself, just picking up some munchies for later on."

You take a quick sip of your floating drink before turning back to Fluttershy.

"You know, you'll get a nasty tummy ache if you drink too much of that," Fluttershy says.

_I know_ you think to yourself. _But I can't stop_! "Listen, you sort of left too early in the morning before I could talk to you. We need you to come by later on tonight alright?"

Fluttershy immediately looks around the sparse crowd trying walking around. "Is this about the… alien?" She's trying to be quiet and inconspicuous about this; she's failing horribly at it.

"Yes it is. Just come over later on when you can tonight. We need your input on some things before I send out the letter to the princess."

"Oh, okay then. I'll do my best to help with whatever it is you need."

Slurping on your smoothie you think to yourself what else needs to be done. Not much at all really since Bon Bon should be talking to Cheerilee right now.

….

"Hey Fluttershy… how long are you going to be here?" you ask as she turned to walk off.

"Oh? I suppose a good while since there's so many deals going on today, why?"

"No reason, no reason at all..."

You chuckle to yourself as you begin walking away, doing your best to ignore your pained tummy. You had time to kill. A nice little meet up with a certain rodent sounds like a good way to spend it.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Anon's POV~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Slam!

You jolt up quickly from the loud noise heard outside the room. Rubbing the sleep out of your eyes, you stretch out and sit on the edge of the bed waiting, for another round with the two ponies and their bad attempts at educating you. It didn't take long before you hear the clip clop of hooves outside your door.

What you don't expect is a sudden rattling on the doorknob, along with the door being banged up against in a loud fashion. You heard some grumbling of unintelligible words as the door rattled about with a forceful attempt at get in. This was new here, was Lyra trying to slam herself in for a reason? Soon the rattling ceased itself. It was quickly replaced by a strange grinding noise on the door.

In only a few moments, the knob disappeared on the other side before the door swung open, revealing only the creamy coated horse this time. Her lab coat was bulging with materials as she walked inside the room cautiously, leaving the door slightly ajar. It was a bit hard to close something without a knob. Getting off the bed, you sit down in your usual spot they had you sit in when they came in. You wonder why the unicorn was absent.

"~+Guess I'm lucky enough Lyra hasn't returned just yet. I need to work fast.+~"

She stops for a second, staring at you before sitting down herself.

"~+I don't fully trust you yet, so you better keep to yourself or I'll…~+"

With how you just stared at her in confusion, she slapped a hoof into her face before grumbling some more. The horse starts pulling out a lot of scrolls and inks with quills, along with what appears to be polaroid pictures. Are you fucking serious? They have pictures here too?

"~+Now, I know you can't understand me so I'm mostly just talking to myself. Which I find completely fine here, I've always preferred my own company to others… especially aliens.+~"

The little horse doesn't look up at you as she digs around in her pockets for more paper, this one with what appeared to be scribbled notes.

"~+Okay, so Miss Cheerilee said to try and find a common thing between both parties. This had better speed things up or so help me I'm throwing you out the window, consequences be darned.+~"

She slides a piece of scribbled paper over to you before backing away quickly, waiting for you to grab it. It looked like some sort of alphabet to you, but in a more cursive manner. If that were true, it had about thirty one letters over your own twenty six. Without notice, you see she had shoved a stack of paper along with some ink and quill over, along with an apple and another piece of paper under it with seven letters.

Oh! This was much better! You write down your own word for apple on a separate paper carefully. Quills are ridiculously hard to work with, you thought. After passing that to her, you sit back down and look over their alphabet. It looked simple enough to try and learn, but with their strange shapes and squiggles it would take time writing them out.

The creamy pony thumps her hoof to get your attention to the paper she passed back, your words being translated down into her own by letter. It didn't feel right though, like both of you were missing something in your alphabets to translate. You had all the time in the world right now being stuck inside this room; you may as well spend that time learning to communicate with them.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

It's been about two hours doing this and you feel like you've made a huge improvement already. Apparently, their alphabet is mixed up in different places, as in their letters were in different locations from your own. Also, their consonants actually doubled. So the letter A was actually A and some strange foreign letter you assumed was added in for sounding out. This felt like some of the games you had played growing up, like you were making your own secret code or something. Only this time it was real… and with horses.

Oh wait, they were ponies. One of the first things the creamy one across from you asked was what you were. She then translated herself as a pony, though it took several tries to get across. You guess that made sense, they were smaller than horses. You were still having difficulty with her name though. You think it was Bam Bam, or something like that.

"~+Bonnie!~+" you heard suddenly screamed out.

The lab coated pony jumped from the yell before looking at the door. You could see the unicorn gritting her teeth. She looks around, noticing the paper work all over the ground before slowly turning her sights back onto Bam Bam with an angry expression.

"~+We were supposed to do this together! Why didn't you wait for me!+~"

"~+Wait, I can explain!~+" the science pony says backing away now.

The two of them start to bicker loudly, mostly on Lyra's end though as Bam Bam tried her best to diffuse the situation. Oh god the unicorn was going to throw another tantrum! The last time was just two days ago and the whole house felt like a damn earthquake had hit the place! You kept under the bed for the remainder of that day. No way in hell you were going to talk to a crazed up wizardly unicorn riled up like that! Trying to think of something to help calm this down, you do your best scribbling down what you hoped translated to "Hello Lyra".

You shove it into the air, waving it about to the unicorn. She roughly magic's the paper in front of her, eyes squinting at your butchered penmanship in their language. She stares at it for a good long minute, probably trying to figure out your own scribbled mess into something comprehendible, before a high squeal is emitted from her.

"~+Eeeeeeh! Bonnie, he knows how to spell my name!+~"

The science pony drops her head in what you assume is relief while the unicorn rolls on the ground in a happy glee. These ponies man, why were they so weird? Especially the unicorn. Where all unicorns like this? Oh god, where there more like her?! Lyra immediately jumps up and sits in front of you with a big smile along with more paper.

"~+Okay! Now to teach you how to spell pudding!+~"

Bam Bam smacks her face with a hoof with whatever Lyra had said. You felt that this was going to be a very long night for you.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Lyra's POV~X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Stupid Bonnie, trying to do things by herself! Ooh that made you so upset! She was the assistant; she should have been assisting YOU to teaching him! It was also really annoying having to put the knob back in place with magic glue! You should've made Bonnie put it back in. Still, it made things so much quicker now. You wouldn't be able to speak to Anunimuss for a while, but you could still write with him. It would take a while for him to learn how to properly learn your writing system, but he seemed fairly intelligent. And with nothing else for the human to do he should pick it up in a quick pace.

It was another hour before you and Bon Bon left for the night after feeding the human. It was grilled carrots this time with some bread. The two of you were sitting downstairs, quietly writing down some more writing exercises to try out in the following week in hopes to speed up his learning. Well, Bonnie was doing that with some input from you. You were currently writing down the next message to the princess, gathering what data you could for her, and making it more official for the princess to read.

You were just waiting on a certain yellow pegasus right now to add in her part to it. A light knock came from the door just as you were thinking of Fluttershy. That had to be her! Yelling for her to come in, she enters your home in a quiet manner befitting her character.

"I'm so sorry for not coming sooner!" she said apologetically.

"Nah, it's cool. Just glad you made it in time. I was just writing out the message to the princess."

"Right but I was, well, held up since I couldn't find Angel. He somehow climbed a tree and wrapped himself up in some rope. I'm not sure why he decided to do that…"

You chuckle to yourself at that, totally worth spending two hours there. "We just need your own input on Anunimuss's current health and other things about him."

"Oh, is that the aliens name? It sounds so weird."

"But that's because he's an aaalieeen!" you said, emphasizing the alien.

"Um, I also… well, started on it back home so I believe I already have what you need right here, if you want to take a look that is," she said softly, pulling something out of a sack you hadn't noticed on her.

Levitating over what she was holding, you can see it's a neatly worded folder of her current week her. Examining it, you see it seems very thorough of what she did, along with her own thoughts on the matter. She even had some crudely drawn pictures of him, like his ears or teeth. Neat!

"That's awesome Flutters! After all this, I'll make sure to give you credit so you can get paid too! Why, you may even become famous after this!"

She blushes from your praise before quickly picking up something you guess she didn't want to hear.

"F-famous?!" Fluttershy stutters out.

"Well, yeah! Everypony is going to know about you and your work here after this finally gets published to the public!"

Fluttershy seems to be in a panic at that. Oh right, she doesn't like being in the spotlight you remembered. She prefers to try and stay away from it. "I d-don't mean to be rude, but I don't want a repeat of the modeling thing, so i-if you could leave me out of this-"

"You were a model?!"

Bonnie turns away from her work to look at you with a frown. "Didn't you see those magazines published a while back? She was on the cover of so many places."

Fluttershy seems to be getting very, VERY red and fidgety from hearing that. She must not have liked to be reminded of that. You sigh to yourself looking at the papers Fluttershy gave to you. It just seemed so wrong taking this from her without giving anything back.

"I don't like the thought of just using your stuff without something in return Flutters, it feels really bad."

"It's fine, really. I'm glad to have helped at all seeing a new species and I will still help you later on if you need it."

Seriously, this mare here, she was just too darn nice for her own good sometimes.

"Fine I suppose I'll keep you out of this."

With her part complete, Fluttershy smiles to you before leaving for the door. "I have to get back to my place and feed the animals, so um…"

"Okay Fluttershy, and thanks for the help."

She nods at that before exiting out the door leaving the two of you back to your writings. You quickly make a copy of Fluttershy's work before putting it into the message back to the princess; her work alone added an enormous amount to it. The time goes by without notice as you scribbled away at the scrolls.

"Hey Lyra, check this out."

You jolt at the sudden interaction messing up the current paper you were on. It was much darker out now that you noticed.

"Bonnie how long has it been?"

"If you're worried about feeding time, I already fed it. And it's been about an hour since Fluttershy came here."

Wow time went by real quick.

"Anyways I was finished with the stuff for next week and was going through your books when I came across this."

She passes a thick book over to you. "The Creatures of Yesteryear" it read on the cover.

You remember this book; it was part of your lessons to study on different creatures and beings. You barely remember much of it though. It was really dry and boring to read.

"Page four-hundred and nine."

Turning to that page, you see a bipedal creature that eerily resembled the human, but with more hair.

"Oh wow, that's neat!" you said looking over the descriptions.

There wasn't a whole lot about its past for some reason, like that had been edited out. It was mostly information on its physical looks and some other details on it.

"I definitely have to add this in! We could use this as a reference for a species that used to live here on our own planet!"

You started using your magic to make copies of the pictures from the book, along with the copies of pictures from Fluttershy before writing down how they look alike.

"Why do we need to reference the two together?" Bonnie asks.

….

"Cause… it would give the princess something to reference to our own planet! I mean, she should have lived long enough to have seen these creatures before they vanished."

"I suppose. It has a really weird name though."

Looking back at the book, you look up the title of the creature's name.

"…The Bleuh Bleuh Bleuh?"

"Yeah…"

There was something tugging at you with that name, but you couldn't remember what it was. Hmm… Oh well, probably not important. Silly as the name was, you made sure to write that down. It would take another hour before you had a proper looking document to send back to the princess using the information from the book.

"Alright! I've got it all done up and ready for delivery!" you scream out to Bonnie. " Wanna read it before I do?"

"No, I'm good," you hear yelled from the kitchen. She better be making you a sandwich in there…

Walking over to your custom made lantern, you slip the scroll in along with the neatly made document. You don't expect a reply for a good while, probably not until tomorrow. Hopefully it'll come with the bits you requested. You wonder how they'll get here.

"Lyra, I got you a sandwich in here."

Good, Bon Bon's learning. You walk on in ready to devour that sandwich with gusto. Bonnie made the best sandwiches, making sure to add in mayo. Who doesn't like mayo with their tomatoes! The two of you were sitting down in the living room, talking on next weeks lessons for the alien when the lantern starts kicking about, depositing a scroll.

"…Didn't you send that only a little over an hour ago?" Bonnie asks.

"Yeah, I did. I guess the princess wanted to reply quickly." Another shake, and the lantern now deposited a bag which clanged on the scroll. "And she sent the bits! Alright, now we have some money for the clothes and additional food!"

Bon Bon clears her throat at that.

"I didn't forget about you either."

She nods at that before you went over and picked up the bag, placing it over to the side. Opening the scroll, you read it out loud. It mostly kept with how you were doing a good job, thanking Bon Bon for her help, and other manners such as the bits. The last part though…

"That's weird, the last part is written with a block around it."

"Maybe it's something very important?"

"It seems to be concerning the Blueh Blueh Blueh, huh..."

Well whatever. It couldn't be that bad… right?

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X~Canterlot One Hour Ago~X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Here you were getting ready to sleep for the night when you felt a spell going off directed to you. It felt like a message sending spell. Floating in the air was a scroll and some other papers. The scroll and bundled papers didn't look like something that Twilight or her friends would send and definitely not anything from the other nations…

Oh!

You had forgotten that Lyra was supposed to have her reply today, this must be it! It was a bit late, but better now than in the morning. You should be able to get your sister with this if you hurried! Taking the scroll, you read it over to yourself sitting in your room, curious as to what the next session to this 'scenario' would entail.

Interesting, it seems they've begun teaching it our language. Speaking attempts have failed, so they've turned to scripting out words instead. The scroll only holds some other things such as the request for bits to her new assistant along with some for things needed for their 'alien'. You really didn't think Lyra would actually ask for the bits for her scenario. It would look bad to refuse them now though. The document holds a more thorough understanding of everything she had done for the week. Getting up, you proceed to leave your room with two guards walking behind you respectively.

Walking out to the throne room, you see your sister Luna sitting there talking to some of those bat ponies that she deals with during her nights. You didn't want to sound rude, but those bat ponies could be really creepy. They made up the majority of Luna's forces, along with some other creatures as well. You're not sure how she managed to get some griffins in her guard. Waiting on the bat pony to finish his conversation, he leaves quickly just as Luna notices you in the room.

"Hello Celestia, how are you doing this evening?"

"I am doing just fine Luna. I had come by with another 'scenario' for this week."

Luna perks up at that before walking down the chair and speaking to one of her guards, another bat pony. He looks extremely surprised by what she had said to him before he… walks up the throne and sits on it! Luna walks up to you noticing your surprised reaction to this.

"Well, you _had_ stated that I should try and change with the times. So I am, as our subjects would say, shaking things up a bit. But do not worry, my guard is only there to state why I am no there and to turn them away."

This… wasn't what you had in mind by change, but you don't argue with her as the two of you walk away into your private study. Levitating the scroll over to Luna, she quickly reads it as you sit down to the table.

"She is asking for bits, I would not think she would do that… should we refuse?"

"No, I've already stated it would be given and I shall not turn back on a promise. Besides, it looks like she is using it for an assistant to work with her, a certain somepony named Bon Bon that quit her stand work to help."

"Ah… her," Luna said. "She also appears to be her roommate, so the extra food for the 'alien' is probably really for her. And… they are also wanting clothes to be made next week," Luna states accusatorily at their demands.

"I will state that images will be made for the clothes. I doubt that Lyra would try and sneak more bits for herself, but I can see the doubt you place in her."

"I still do not trust her fully, but this helps."

She just doesn't like her but you do not correct her in that. The both of you split the document up reading it in sections together while conversing with one another. It feels really nice to finally have a moment with your sister; you really missed this from the old days.

"Well this is a tad strange," Luna states looking at a new section. "This looks awfully familiar but, I cannot trace my memory for what this is."

She levitates the little packet titled "Health and Biology" to you. Oh how lovely, Lyra even had some drawings done up to accompany-

….

You scream loudly, throwing the document away while flinging yourself from the table and away from the image. Your breathing hard now with your heart pumping away in a fast beat. Luna stands there staring at you before she notices sounds from outside the door. Luna, thanks to her quick actions, stopped the doors from being shoved open with her magic from the guards that were standing outside. You wouldn't want them seeing you like this.

"PRINCESS! IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT!" More banging quickly accompanies their yelling.

"We are fine, you may return to your posts." Luna stated loudly.

A pause of silence was met before the banging resumed. Luna seems pained from their lack of respect to her orders. You try your best to collect yourself to speak clearly.

"Guards! Do as you are ordered! Now return to your posts!"

The banging immediately cease and just as quickly, the clopping of many hooves ring out before fading away. Darn it to Tartarus… you may have gotten Luna back and her own guards like before, but it had just become apparent they don't fully trust her. You'll have to deal with that very soon, but for now you would need to talk to her. She has a worried expression on her face, like the unruly guards actions hadn't even bothered her.

"Sister, are you alright? What happened?"

Her worry for you makes you feel happy she cared enough. Standing up, you slowly walk back to the table, looking down at the document that started this whole mess.

"Sister… do you remember the Blueh Blueh Blueh?"

"No, I can't say I do."

You drop your head down with a sigh.

"I can't blame you for not remembering. They only came out during the day, at first that is. They were targeted to my presence during my rule. They were a… creation of Discords of long ago. They were made to spread chaos of their own choosing across the land. The creations were a bit… too chaotic. Much more than what Discord had intended, he said. It got out of hoof, with so much destruction and devastation across the land."

The chaotic creatures were one of the few things to scare you in your long lived life. Those things could turn the simplest, most innocent of things into something so horrific, so maddening. Anything they came into contact with was tainted with horrid, black chaos.

"All our little ponies were afraid to go out during the day. Soon though, they turned to the night. And that's when their truly despicable crimes came out."

Luna's head pops up at that.

"I remember now. That was the start of why so many ponies started to stray from my night."

You nod your head in acknowledgment to that.

"You only remember a small portion of it since their late night raids only lasted a short time, near their end. This was also when we first agreed so long ago not to be in one another's affairs. I regret that decision greatly ever since…"

Your sister lowers her head and nudges herself along you in a hug as an attempt to make you feel better. Well, it worked you thought as you felt your fears of the past slowly ebb away.

"So how did you get rid of them?" She asks lifting away from you.

"That would also be Discords fault. He felt bad, not realizing that his creations were capable of such horrid destruction until it was too late. So, he helped me go across the land in gathering them all until I could banish them away from the lands. Of course, I then quickly used the elements on Discord before he could flee."

You remember Discord roaring with glee at that. He said he felt a laugh was needed from it. If it wasn't for that event, those evil creations that tore anything and everything they came into contact with, you wouldn't really feel the need to keep him locked up today. It's not like he went out and hurt anything, thought he could get a bit _too_ out of hoof. In fact, he was a somewhat enjoyable thing to be around, if a bit weird.

"Do you think Lyra knew of this while sending it to you?"

"…It's a possibility. This might be her way of sending a clear message across on how to handle something like this if it ever came up."

"I don't like it very much how she went about doing it," Luna says frowning at the document now in front of you, the image of the thing standing there and smiling.

She blinks before turning to you.

"I hate to ask, but why where they called the Bleuh Bleuh Bleuh?"

You groan tiredly from the question. "Discord thought it would be funny."

"Ah."

Silence met the two of you staring down at the document. Luna turned to you with a questioning look on her.

"You're going to reply in kind as Lyra did, are you not?"

"Oh yes sister, I most surely am," you reply noticing a smirk on your sister from it. "It would be seen as rude if I did not come up with an… appropriate reaction to this."

What you were thinking of doing could stop the scenarios from happening from then on, but you were NOT going to let this stand by without a proper retaliation to it. She should have known not to use these of all things; it was in her studies on the history of them for crying out loud! The two of you read the rest of the document, looking over any facts that needed to be added in while most talk had been put aside. Taking a scroll out, Luna was the one to write out the beginning of your reply, starting with the acceptance of bits and the usual congratulatory places and filler to certain areas of their 'teaching'.

"So now for us to address the alien, how do we go about this?"

"Why, the alien and the Blueh Blueh Bleuh _do_ seem to resemble one another fairly well, don't you agree?"

…

"Too well to my liking at all. That 'alien' could be related to them somehow, making them a possible danger if such a relation is true."

Luna holds a grin hearing that, she must be enjoying herself. So were you surprisingly.

"So, we need to set up precautions and steps to making sure that the safety of our ponies is met."

"And if this 'Anunimuss' is not proven safe?" Luna asks.

You let out a smile to her words, which in turn made your sisters grow larger. Oh how much fun it is bonding.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X~Ponyville~X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"-alien known as 'Anunimuss' must be proven quickly in two weeks' time not a harm to my ponies in the manner I had just stated. If not, it will have to be…"

You choke on your words, feeling very faint. The color drained from you reading the last part. Bonnie looking at you worriedly, noticing your reaction to what you read.

"What does it say Lyra," Bon Bon asks in a curious but wary tone.

You take in a gulp of air, looking at the scroll.

"…If not…. it will have to be b-b-banished… or terminated for the protection to our subjects… and all of Equestria."

…

…

…

"Guess we shouldn't have used that book after all…"

~End Chapter Four~


	6. Chapter Five - Innocence

The entire living room was a disaster. Nothing was left untouched from the destruction that came and went through this place. The couch was overturned on top of the table. Papers were littered about everywhere with ink blots painted crudely over your walls, floor, and even the ceiling. Only a single light source coming from the kitchen lit the room up in a dimmed out yellow haze. A certain book that started all of this was burnt to ashes, its charred remains left in the middle of the room. You had to quickly smother it out lest it overtake the home.

Over in the corner, you could see a pile of shredded blankets and torn up books shuddering about. Lyra was in the middle of that with her back turned to you, curled up and crying her eyes out. The convulsive gasping of Lyra's raspy breathes were the only thing left audible in the room. You tried earlier talking to her throughout her tantrum but she completely ignored you, like you weren't even there. This was the first time you'd ever seen a pony actually threaten the princess…. ever. It was a bit frightening seeing her like this.

So you stayed inside the kitchen as she tore through whatever she came across. You had hoped that letting her run rampant would get her temper under control. You couldn't help but understand why Lyra was so angry. Yes, the princess may have set her up with her dream job but Lyra had devoted her entire being to the princess in return. She's always send letters weekly, staying up through nights scribbling away through her scrolls, and doing whatever the princess had tasked Lyra to do without question. And you felt some of those tasks were down right mental on the princess's part. You felt your anger slowly churn away at you from the princess reply.

You remember one particular time you personally felt the princess had asked for too much out of your friend. Lyra had sent in a packet a while back questioning the intelligence of several different creatures we know of today. Princess Celestia thought it appropriate to task Lyra to check for sentience in the timberwolves, one of those creatures she questioned on. It always bothered you why the princess would ever ask her to do this; it was suicidal to even think of talking to those things! Of course, without question, Lyra being the happy little pony she was in wanting to prove herself had readily agreed to do what was asked.

She was found stuck up in a tree a week later inside the Everfree Forest with those things growling at her, until a Pegasus spotted Lyra and lifted her out. Apparently the timberwolves WERE sentient, if their growls of eating pony meat had anything to go by. The princess may have apologized afterwards, and Lyra may have accepted it with a smile, but it left you with the sense that the princess may not be as great a ruler you thought she was. In the end with all of Lyra's work and devotion to the princess, it probably tore right through her reading those words aloud.

The sound of movement shook you from your thoughts. Lyra was shaking roughly from the cold draft of wind wafting through the broken window. Her crying had slowly ceased to a low whining accompanied with the occasional sniffle. You had to take a moment to collect yourself before putting on a calm, friendly face and making your way to Lyra.

Wading through the sea of debris and papers scattered about, while making sure not to step on any of the glass, you make your way to the sobbing mare in the corner. The broken window let in a draft of cold wind shuffling the papers about the room, leaving you with a cold night chill up your spine. You can be thankful for the fact that the neighbors around you had stopped coming here a long time ago when these types of things happened, deeming them part of everyday life here.

Walking up to Lyra, you notice her presently flattened ears twitch from the sounds of your hooves clicking across the hardened floor. She must've noticed you were coming up to her, you thought, as she shakily turns her head towards you. Lyra's eyes were puffy and red from all the crying. Her tears streaked down to her chin, a pattering of drops sounded off as they hit the floor. Wobbly, she stands up to you while taking heavy steps in your direction, her head hanging low from your gaze. You meet her half way there as she slung her head across your shoulder, her tears immediately wetting it. Sitting down with Lyra, you allow her as much time she needed to cry as you rubbed her back with your hoof, hoping that would calm her.

"W-why would the p-princess want to do that!" Lyra asked in a nasally tone.

You give her time to calm back down before responding. "Princess Celestia is just looking out for her ponies… for us. What would you have done in her position Lyra?"

She shoves her head further into you, a softened sobbing her only response.

"Lyra, how long did the princess say we have?" you question her.

Lyra gulps in a stream of air before replying. "T-two weeks…"

Is that really enough time to put judgment down on a stranger that can't properly communicate to you ponies? It can't even defend itself if the alien was directly asked. It felt like a losing battle right there, but you needed to stay optimistic for Lyra.

"Okay then, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to set my bed up for you to get some rest, and then in the morning we are going to do our best to prove the alien harmless."

"How are we going to do that Bonnie?" she questioned into your shoulder.

Good question. Just how do you go about proving its innocence?

"I'm not sure," you answer truthfully. "But I figure with you on the job, we'll find a way to do just that. You'll… think of something, you always do."

It didn't take long for Lyra to calm down from her quiet sobbing. You can feel Lyra's weight slumping into your shoulder. A glance at her reveals she's barely awake at the moment, nodding off. She must be too tired to stay awake from her previous episode, you thought. Turning to Lyra's side, you slide her up onto her hooves to move her up and toward the stairs and into your room.

You've had practice doing this with Lyra before for a variety of reasons in the past, there was little trouble getting her to your door. Right outside your room, you quickly jerk to a sudden stop. Gritting your teeth you look at your door, while berating yourself on your forgetfulness.

Slowly easing Lyra to the ground, her barely even noticing the interaction, you walk inside the room alone. You needed to deactivate all your traps you forgot to take down. After deactivating the ones leading to your bed, you walk back out and reenter with a barely conscious Lyra. Pushing her onto the bed, she slumps onto her side already passed out. You throw some comforters on her to keep her warm. You'd join her on the other side, being tired yourself, but there was a major mess in need of cleaning downstairs.

As you were about to exit your room, you take a look back at Lyra's disheveled form on your bed. Her breathing continued to wheeze out from its overuse of screaming and crying earlier, the only movement was the rising and falling of your comforters on her. These next two weeks were going to be such a pain, but you're going to toughen it out for Lyra on trying to prove this alien was harmless.

Not that you didn't care how the alien ended up, you were more concerned about Lyra then that 'things' predicament. She was your best friend for as long as you could remember, nearly family to you... a pony you treasured. And friends like that stuck with one another to the bitter end. You look at Lyra one last time before you closed the door; here's hoping everything turned out alright in the coming weeks.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Uuuugh," you groan out, sore and tired as you woke up on the couch.

Last night's cleaning was exhausting. You spent hours cleaning up all the glass and broken objects lying about. You were too tired to walk up into your bed last night. Plopping on the couch seemed like a good idea at the time, but now you had a very sore back. Standing up off the couch you crack your back looking around the room. Everything was clean and spotless like it was before. You even organized Lyra's stuff she had down here. You'll need to call out for maintenance on the window later on, probably when you could feel Lyra would be fine on her own. But for now, there was wood nailed over it so that would do keeping the fall cold out.

Looking over at the clock, you see it's only a bit past ten in the morning. Grunting to your tired self, you slip on your coat quickly before make your way to the kitchen to make you and Lyra a big breakfast. It didn't take you long making the large meals. You had a lot practice over the years cooking at a fast pace living with Lyra.

Balancing one plate on your back, and the other held clenched in your teeth, you make it up the stairs to your door without any mishaps. Opening your door slowly, you spot your bed with Lyra in it. There was only a few strays of light shining through the partially covered window to light the room. Lyra seems to have balled herself up with all your beddings rolled around her. You'd tease her how cute she looked right then… but you didn't think that was an appropriate action with yesterday still fresh in your mind.

"Hey Lyra," you say softly to her. "Time to get up, I have food for you."

Her ears twitch to the sounds of your voice as you carefully made it to the side of the bed. You and Lyra are very light sleepers, so it didn't take much trouble getting her up. She stretched her legs and body out while yawning, doing her best to fully wake up. Looking over to you, she spots the food that was placed beside her on your bed. She huffs out before sitting up to you.

"Are you feeling better?" you ask as she takes a bite of her jammy buttered toast.

Mid-chew, she tilts off in thought before nodding her head at you. She still looked a fair bit ruffled about, but you don't comment on that.

"Did you remember to feed Anunimuss?" she asks with a sore throat.

Ah crap! You knew you forgot something! "Uh, ye-yeah! I have the alien's food right here!" you answer with a smile, pointing at your own plate.

She smiles at you before going back to her food. She takes a few bites at her plate before stopping mid-bite once more to look up to you.

"…Aren't you going to feed him?"

Sighing to yourself, you pick up your plate and head out the door to the darn alien's room. The knob is enveloped in a green aura before going away. Lyra must've unlocked it, you thought, entering inside.

The alien was already awake sitting on the ground, looking over at the papers you had gone over with it yesterday. You forgot to take those out of the room, you think to yourself while walking up to the alien with your food. Anunimuss looks up to you, hearing the clipping of your hooves on the floor, and notices the plate in your mouth.

A smile appears on the alien's face before it bends down and takes the quill in its soft claws, scribbling something on paper. Holding it up, you could barely make out the words 'thank you' in it. At least it was learning; maybe it can write out its innocence at the end of next week? Placing the plate down, you nod at it before quickly returning to Lyra's side on the bed. Your stomach grumbles quietly as you stare at Lyra's half eaten plate of food. You were really looking forward to that jammy toast.

"Okay, so I've been thinking of some different ways to go about proving this thing is harmless. But they all point to having it go outside and the princess doesn't want it out until it's proven harmless. It's too bad, that would've proven right there it could be trusted."

Lyra doesn't answer as you stare out the window's partially covered view in thought.

"So I was thinking, maybe we could bring in some ponies into the house and introduce the alien? I'm not sure if the princess would approve of that either, but it's a start, right?"

Looking at Lyra for a response, you see she's not even paying attention to you. In fact, she's looking past you with wide eyes. Scrunching your face in annoyance of being ignored, you turn around just to see what was so interesting. Ooh crap! You forgot to close your door AND the aliens! Worse, it has your silverware! How did you forget to take those away!

"Eeeeee…" you hear mumbling out from your friend.

Looking back at her, you notice a very eerie smile on her. You knew what that smile meant. It meant she was probably about to do something really, really stupid. Well, so long as Lyra wasn't sulking or anything, you supposed you'll let her idiocy slide for now. You just hope it isn't too dangerous what's running through her head.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Anon's POV~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

You've been sitting around for the past few hours, tired from last night's banging around. It felt more violent from the last time it happened. You made sure to upturn the bed as a barrier until you felt it safe to move out from it. You only got a few hours of sleep before waking up. No matter how hard you tried you just couldn't fall back to sleep. So you sat on the ground over the paperwork you and Bam Bam had been working over yesterday. You may as well get started on cracking their language, you thought, while spending your morning pouring over your work.

Looking over at Bam Bam's papers, you copied them down in your own handwriting, making sure to repeat the process to better improve your skills in this. It only took you a few hours to have something that looked like a proper translation sheet for yourself. There were probably mistakes, but it's better to have something than nothing.

You should be able to have conversations now with the two ponies, in writing at least. You still had problems pronouncing their language. You were lucky enough to even say the few words you practiced on. Right now, you were sitting down eating a fucking awesome meal. There was some toast with butter and jam, an omelet stuffed with cheese and veggies, and some hash browns; god this was so awesome to eat after a week of nothing but eggs and random stuff. It surprised you they ate potatoes though, wasn't that bad for equines? Maybe it was fine for magical ponies…

And there was a fork too! Maybe they were starting to trust you? They must be if they left the door open, you thought. You didn't leave the room or move from your spot once you noticed the door opened. You figured they were most likely testing you somehow. Hearing a squeal, you looked up from your food and saw the unicorn crawling over the bed and past her bewildered looking friend, before flopping on the other side in a thump on the hard wood floor. Picking herself back up, Lyra quickly enters your room, followed by Bam Bam. She sits down right in front of you looking around at all the papers scattered on the floor.

"~+You left him with papers?" she asked in a cracked up voice. "Good idea, he can do his own studying while we're away now!+~"

Bam Bam chuckles to what Lyra said before sitting beside the mint colored unicorn. "~+So what exactly were you thinking of when you saw, well, whatever it was you saw?+~"

"~+Well, I noticed you left both doors open, and that let off a LOT of alarms in my head of him escaping, right?~+"

"~+…Right?+~"

"~+Right! But he hasn't even attempted to escape! And, he also has a fork but hasn't done anything to possibly try and hurt you once you had your back turned, right?!~+"

Whatever Lyra just said made Bam Bam fidget about looking over to you warily.

"~+Okay, so hear me out. I figure we can go about and give him more and more dangerous things, all the while recording it in a manner painting him innocent!~+"

You really wish you could understand them. The only thing you got was dangerous, and that was from your studying. Were they about to do something dangerous to you?

"~+Lyra, that might be a bit dangerous don't you think?+~" Bam Bam asked.

"~+It's not like we have any other ideas. We can't have him go outside, and we can't just have random ponies come in and mess around with him. This seems like the only way I can think of to show he's harmless.+~"

You slowly take another bit of your hash browns while keeping an eye on the two here. Whatever Lyra had planned, you felt you were going to regret it.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Hey, you were totally not regretting it after all! So far, they put in a few items inside the room like a dresser, some candles, and knives. Yeah… knives. Why would they put knives in here? That shit scared you when that first started; you thought they were preparing to cut you open! That thought went straight out the window when they fucking gave them to you.

You just stared at the knives, then back at Lyra and the now shaking like mad Bam Bam, before placing them on top of the dresser. Lyra smiled at that before leaving with Bam Bam quickly following close by behind her. The day pretty much followed suit just like this. They'd come in with a new item, examine what you would do with it, and then leave.

Maybe they were testing you? That had to be it, a trust of faith to see you wouldn't do anything to hurt them. Of course you wouldn't hurt them. That's really fucked up to even think of doing. And besides, even if you wanted to, they had magic.

Right now, they had you back down on the floor, surrounded by papers, as they continued trying to teach you more of their language. Oh, and they brought in more sharp things they kept handing to you. You had a nice row of them circling around you. Bam Bam looked a bit pale from her usual creamy coat, though it was hard seeing it with her lab coat on. Lyra… just kept smiling. You had some questions you wanted to ask, such as why you were in this house to begin with, but maybe you should withhold them for now on account that this pony may have flipped her lid.

So instead, you decide to ask just why they were giving you all these sharp knives. You could see them trying to test your trust in them, but this was a bit overboard you felt. Taking a good few minutes to write a very simple question, you hand the paper over to them. Lyra's horn glows, surrounding the paper in an identical glow, before it levitates over to her. Reading it, she drops her smile looking up to you. Bam Bam looks over her shoulder to read it before a heavy sigh comes out.

"~+Lyra, think we should tell him about what the princess said?+~"

Lyra takes a shaky gulp of air, looking like she was about to cry. What the hell? Did you do something wrong? She quickly scribbles down a note with Bam Bam once more reading it. She lets out a groan before the note is passed over to you.

You could barely make out exactly what it said. You had to keep checking back and forth to translate it for a good minute before you could make heads of the note.

**I just wanted to prove to my friend Bon Bon that you could be friendly and trusted.**

Huh, guess you were right on them testing if you could be trusted. It was a nice thought that Lyra had a small amount of trust you wouldn't do anything wrong. Of course, why would she even think you're dangerous? She's proven to be a magical wizard pony that could rip you to pieces, who the fuck would mess with that?! You thought it was pretty funny you were messing up that other ponies name though.

"~+Lyra, couldn't you have chosen a better excuse?+~"

"~+Well, it's sort of true Bon Bon. An alien pops up for the first time in, like EVER, and I wanted to be his friend! To show him we ponies are a good species to be around. Why can't you trust him like I do?+~"

"~+Lyra, I'm trying to. But all I see is something that's so weird; it's hard for me okay? For all you know this," she waves a hoof at you there, "THING doesn't want to be your friend! It might just be acting complacent until it can get the buck home or take over the world or something!~+"

The aquamarine unicorn's ears flatten on her head looking at Bon Bon with a sad look.

"~+W-what?+~" Lyra uttered out.

Whatever it was Bon Bon said, it didn't seem to have a good effect on Lyra. Bon Bon must've realized it the moment it left her lips as her face softens up immediately noticing her friend on the verge of tears.

"~+Wait, I wasn't-+~"

Lyra cuts away from Bon Bon's attempt at talking, turning from her immediately. Her magic quickly flowed through a quill on paper at a fast pace, which gets quickly shredded up before another piece is written up. She goes over five more papers before a note is floated over to you. Looking across at her you see she's staring at you, her eyes watering with a frown placed over her normally excited face. Looking down at the note, you take it over to your translation paper to see just what was wrong with what she was asked.

**You're not here to take over our world are you Anunimuss?**

Okay, first off, was that what they thought your name was? And two, why the hell would they think you were capable of such a thing?

**No not here to take world over and I do not how I get here in first place**

**And name is Anonymous**

Passing it over, Lyra quickly reads it. Looking upset, she points at the message once more she handed to you. You notice a part was bent, probably from your handling of it. Bending it back, you go back over and translate that portion as well.

**Will you be my friend?**

That's… a really weird question, you thought. Did this pony have friend issues? Looking back at her, you can see she's obviously worried to what your answer is. She hasn't done anything to dissuade her being a friend, plus she's been really helpful to you even with her weird little bouts that pop up. With a sigh, you go about with a response, slowly writing down the message for a cleaner look.

**We can friends Lyra**

You wish you knew their language better. You pass it over to her to read it. Lyra stares at the note for a few seconds before looking back up to you. You thought a friendly gesture sounded like a good idea. You smile at her, reaching your hand out for a handshake. Do ponies know how to handshake? Well of course they d-

"Oomph!"

Lyra tackled you in your gut, wrapping her hooves around you as she squeezed the ever loving fuck out of you. Looking over to Bon Bon, hoping for some idea on what to do, she just raises a brow at you before letting out a sigh, shaking her head.

It was obvious that she was hugging you now. This might be one of those different culture things, where a hug was the custom instead of handshakes, you think. It's not like they even have hands. So, you reach your arms around her to give her a light squeeze back, which prompts a small 'squee' to come from her. Lyra lets go of you, jumping back to where she was sitting with a wide smile. Bon Bon rubs her forehead with a hoof, gaining the attention of Lyra.

"~+See! He totally likes me!+~" She picks up some more paper, probably contemplating on what to teach you next. She looks at the wall where they just recently hung a clock up on, and then scrunches her face up. "~+Wasn't Fluttershy supposed to be over here by now?~+"

Bon Bon somehow manages to rub the back of her neck, looking at Lyra who seems to want something concerning the clock.

"~+Yeah… about that. You see, when you were moving stuff up a bit ago, I was downstairs. Fluttershy was at the door and I answered it. So, I sort of told her to come by tomorrow. With, uh, Rarity as well…+~"

Lyra doesn't seem to like whatever it was Bon Bon said.

"~+Why would you make that decision?! He doesn't need to see any other ponies around here, it might upset him!+~"

Bon Bon makes a sound, as if to scoff at that, before turning to Lyra with a reply to their conversation.

"~+Lyra, the thing needs clothes and Rarity is the only on in town that makes them. And I highly doubt anything will make it upset. Not after living with us, that is.+~"

You _really_ wish you could understand them. Having them talk in front of you, possibly about you, really sucked without knowing just what it was they said. Grabbing some papers you write down what you think each letter is properly pronounced as. You could honestly say that after college, you were happy with learning. This seemed like a proper time as any to start learning what they said. What they had planned couldn't be all that bad you think.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Lyra's POV~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Bon Bon really didn't like your plan on proving the human harmless. It seemed like the best solution at the time, and it still does with what little was available for you to do. The first day wasn't all that bad. The human, now properly named Anonymous, didn't seem very eager to handle any of the knives you gave him. Adding in different items inside seemed to even cheer him up, such as a desk with chair, or the utensils for food. The poor guy couldn't sit properly in your chair. It was too small for him. You're gonna have to get a new one re-sized for him later.

Today, Fluttershy came by with Rarity, whom had a small baggage of measuring tools and other things for clothes making you didn't have names for.

"So, Miss Lyra, just where is this fashion emergency that could, for some strange reason, somehow be put off until today!"

"Uh, fashion emergency?"

"YES! My dear friend Fluttershy came by stating there was a wardrobe in need of a touch up yesterday, and mentioned you were the pony in dire need of such work! But for you to hold it off for until today, why the audacity!"

Looking over to Fluttershy she nods in confirmation to what was said. Just what did Bonnie say to them yesterday? "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the clothing isn't for me."

"Oh? Then is it for your lovely marefr-" she immediately chokes on her words from the expression you gave her, she best not finish that sentence if she knew what was good for her.

Seriously, why did everypony think you and Bon Bon were like that? Sure, she was attractive, but neither of you were like that at all. You see Bonnie was looking off to the side with a red face. See, now she was embarrassed!

"Uh, what I mean is, are the clothes that I shall make for your friend Bon Bon?" she asked with a forced smile.

"No, it is not."

Rarity blinks at that, clearly confused at the situation. You give a look to Fluttershy, whose eyes widen in realization to whom they were really for. Did Bon Bon really not say who they were for when telling Fluttershy this? See, this was why you were needed when she did stuff like this.

"Rarity, I need you to promise me what you are about to see is not spoken about outside this house. Not to any of your friends or families, not as gossip, not a peep!"

Rarity doesn't seem to like being told what she can or cannot say.

"What a rude thing to say, ordering me around like this! You need to learn some manners Miss Lyra! Why, I'll talk to anypony I feel like!"

"Um, Rarity the princess sort of, well, ordered that… not Lyra," Fluttershy meekly says to her.

She looks back and forth between you two, uncertain what to say. Getting her to sit down on the couch you go into the kitchen and make up some tea. Quickly serving it, you and Bon Bon proceed to explain the situation to her with some input from Fluttershy. You were so glad Flutter's was here, otherwise Rarity might not be so inclined to do anything with Anonymous.

"Well, I suppose I may go ahead and take a gander at the, alien, as you say it is. I'm not entirely sure if I can remake any of its clothing anytime soon. I might have them ready possibly next week, after I do a full study of the alien's clothing."

"That's perfectly fine, so long as Anonymous has something to wear. Oh! The princess is paying for this. I'll have the bits ready when you need them."

The three of you make some small talk, drinking your tea in a relaxing manner. You were trying your best to calm Rarity down, before leading her up to the room Anonymous was in. Bon Bon decided go out to town and talk to some ponies there. The door was already wide open. He was sitting at the desk you put in there, going over some paperwork from last night. You were very glad that he placed those knives elsewhere when you left. It might not go over well with the two mares here if they saw them all over the floor around him. He turned to the three of you, raising an arm up in a wave greet you.

"Hello" he said in a very heavy accent he rolled with his tongue. That was a surprise hearing him speak, that must have taken him a long time just to say that.

"Oh my!" Rarity says, walking up to him. "What a strange, exotic sounding accent! And just look at his clothing! Why, I've never seen fabric much like this before!"

She's begun prodding Anonymous, circling him around the small chair he sat on, tugging at the clothing he wore. At least she's not afraid of him. Anonymous points to a note he just made, in which you float over to you.

**Who is other unicorn and why she poking me**

You felt very flabbergasted at the note, he knew what unicorns where?! You never explained just what you were as a pony. You were going to need to ask him later on what he knew.

"She's examining you for some clothes," you say to him. He points to his ear and shakes his head. You slap a hoof in your face, you forgot he doesn't understand you.

"Lyra, ask him if I can take a look at his top clothing! These patterns in the clothing, the way it's designed! Why, these 'humans' must be very advanced in their cloth making skills from what I'm seeing!"

Writing out a note in reply, you pass it back over to him to translate and read. He's getting really good at this, only about a week's worth of training and he's already picking up writing. Reading the translated note, he proceeds to stand up before Rarity, who backs up from the sheer height he imposes on her, and takes off his heavy article for her. Reaching out, he gives the jacket over to Rarity. She stands there with the jacket now levitating in her power, but continues staring up at Anonymous. Neatly placing the jacket in her pouch, she goes up to him with a measuring tape.

"Lyra, I had never prepared clothing for such a," she eyes him up and down, "tall figure before. It shall be a challenge, but a fun one at that. Now, could you get him to take of these fascinating garments for me?"

"Uh, he doesn't like going nude. He doesn't have any way to cover himself, down there, if you catch my meaning."

Rarity blushes from your words. "That, well that is an interesting detail. You can tell him that this is nothing more than business here, and we can leave it at that."

Would the human be alright with that? Levitating over an inked quill and paper, you write out what Rarity is here for and that he needs to remove his clothing for her. Floating the message back to Anonymous, he reads it accompanied with a growing redness in his face. Looking down at Rarity, who gives him a smile, he in turn quickly quills up a message back.

**If she making clothes I am fine with it and I also thank her for them**

Relaying the message over to Rarity, you see her taking more strange tools and paperwork for the job.

"I must be thorough if I am fabricating such creations for an entirely different species. I just keep these around in my bag for such emergencies!"

That's sort of weird, but you can agree with that. Though… Fluttershy is doing the same thing as well, taking out a bag on her you didn't notice till then.

"Oh, um, I never got the chance to, well… write down those details of his body, if you don't mind…"

Sheesh, now everypony was red here! …You know what? Buck it; you're going to collect info as well. It may help show him in a more innocent light for the princess, you thought. Yes, collecting this just for that and nothing more.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

One hour later you all walk out of the room, all three of you with matching red faces.

"Darling, I don't think Anon back there liked you taking pictures of his," she clears her throat to emphasize her point, "nudity being out there."

"And if he had stopped trying to dodge the pictures after the first one I wouldn't have started chasing him!" you reply.

"Well I do hope that those pictures of yours is only for research purposes, darling," Rarity says with a smirk, which also gains a sputtering from you. "Why Lyra, from the way I saw, it almost looked like you was in heat chasing him like that," Rarity chimes in with a purr.

"You know that's not true Rarity, "you say with a blush, looking away. You give off a smirk looking at Fluttershy "Besides," you say, trying to deflect the attention from you, "from the way Flutters couldn't keep her wings down, I'd say somepony else is in early he-"

"IGOTTAGOFEEDMYANIMALS!" Fluttershy screams out, dashing straight down the stairs for the door and out the home.

The two of you stand there before a light laugh trickles out your mouths.

"I do say this has been a very interesting day for me. I will take this, 'jacket', back with me and prepare some more clothing for Anon later next week. I've never seen a jacked designed like this!"

"Yeah sure, just make sure nopony knows of him being here, okay?"

"I will keep my word not to sound off a single peep from these mare's lips," Rarity says, raising a hoof and making a zipping motion in front of her mouth. "Oh, and I hope you don't mind if I come by every few days to ask more questions about his clothes. This 'denim' is quite fascinating and I would love to know more about his worlds fashions!"

"I don't see anything wrong with that," you reply to her as she exits the place with a goodbye.

Looking around, you wonder why Bonnie hasn't come back recently. She said something about talking to some ponies out in town on her stand, probably about her candy business she had to put away for the time being. With nothing better to do, you make your way back to Anon's room. He's sitting back at the desk, eating an apple you'd stocked in the room for whenever he felt hungry. He looks over at you, a blush forming quickly, before he places his apple back down on the table to write a note. You walk on over as he finishes his note for you.

**Was all that necessary** he asks.

You take notice of his lack of punctuation marks. You better teach him those soon. Taking a stack of papers for yourself, you situate on the side of Anon with another small chair to write better.

**Sorry, my friends got a bit excited and may have overstepped some things.**

He really didn't like how Fluttershy kept trying to, well, touch him down there so she can see if he had any injuries or to write down information on it. You were definitely gonna use that later to make her embarrassed. It was so much fun making her red.

You notice he passed over another note. **Very well I am putting trust in you to know what is right**

That makes you smile. It was nice to know he has some trust in you. You scribble down some quick words for him.

**Is it alright to ask some questions right now?**

He scribbles back, **Not like thats ever stopped you right? I would like to ask some questions too**

He's a fast learner, you think, taking notice of his immediate use of a question mark. Okay, so what to ask first.

**How did you know Rarity and I are unicorns?**

You see him looking at you with some thought to that question.

**In my world you are a fake being or creature that is told down for hundreds of years**

Oh, so like a mythological creature? That's pretty neat! You ask him how his species viewed unicorns. Anonymous hesitates to your note, looking down at his own papers in thought. He slowly goes over and writes his message, rechecking his translation sheet he made before giving it to you.

**Unicorns are beings of purification or they can make things better and in our tales they were sought out for such traits to help purify things or to collect their horns**

You felt like your face was slapped reading that. He wasn't going to try and take your horn, was he?! Hearing him grumble, he points down at more lines he had written for you to read.

**Unicorns in return made sure to attack in turn after knowing humans would seek them for their horns**

That doesn't make things better, you thought.

**I assure you I have no intention of horn seeking and these are fake tales or not real at all since we have no real unicorns in my world so please do not be afraid of me I hope you can take these as nothing more than tales or not real**

This was so hard to read without punctuations. Still, it's not like unicorns were real in his world, and he'd already stated these were just tales. You give him a nod at that, in which he smiles in return. You also quickly rip up the note and smolder it around in a small flash of magic fire.

It's best that nopony finds out about that, you think. Ponies were pretty tolerant about many things, but this myth of unicorns from his species would have him immediately banished off, or worse, by the princess immediately. They need to get to know him overtime before he releases this stuff, to better protect his image as harmless. You give him a note saying as much, which he nods to you. He also hands over another note for you to read.

**Question are there other ponies out there?**

That's a reasonable question. He hasn't been out of the house, so he wouldn't really know.

**Yes, there are other ponies out there. There are many in the world, along with other beings that live alongside us.** Thinking on that, what other beings where there on his planet? **What other beings are on your planet?** you scribble down before giving him the note.

It took him a few minutes, carefully writing out a reply for you to read.

**We humans are only beings that can think on whole planet**

That's… really sad to think of, having only one species like that on a planet. Makes wanting to meet an alien like him almost seem selfish to you. Nudging your side, he places another note in front of you.

**What is those markings on your behinds?**

Does he mean your cutie mark? Do they not have those? Well, there _are_ other species on your planet that don't have them, so why would you expect an alien to have one?

**They are called cutie marks, and they tell what special talent you have. Mine is a lyre, as you can see.**

After reading, he turns to the side to look at yours. You bend sideways to let him look. It's not like he's staring at you in a perverted fashion, so you have no problems with it. With that done, he quickly scribbles down some words. He passes over a note to you with a smile.

**Can I please hear you play the lyre? It would be nice to hear some music**

"Um…"

Wow, it's been a long time since you've actually pulled that thing out. You should feel ashamed at that, it's your talent and you haven't really done anything with it at all! It couldn't hurt to pull that dusty thing out. Jumping off your seat, you quickly make it down the stairs to your pile of stuff. Pushing things around, you come across your old lyre case.

The thing was a fair bit dusty. It's been too long since you've played with your lyre. Opening it up, you see the lyre hasn't aged much at all. It still had the nice gleaming strings with the well-polished wood. Your lyre would need a tune up later on, if you decide to use it again anytime soon. Closing the case, you bring it back to the room where Anonymous was sitting, his seat turned to the door waiting on you.

You felt a bit nervous at playing the lyre. You were feeling very out of practice with it. You couldn't help but want to impress Anon a bit with your skills. Taking a seat on the chair that was conveniently placed in front of him, you take a seat while you get out your lyre. You felt very worried playing this for him. Little butterflies flew across your stomach and your forlegs were shaking; darn it Lyra, act calm already! Taking a few breaths, to better ease yourself, you pluck a few strings with the tip of your hoof, to test the sound.

Having done that, you quickly look up to Anon's face. He stared at you, waiting for a performance. Better not let him wait, right? Taking stock of the number of songs you know, you decide to try a song you made up during your schooling. It was supposed to have a lyrical whimsy to it, keeping light and full of happy thoughts. A freedom of air, you commented to anypony whom asked what this song represented.

Your hooves moved back and forth at a quick pace, never missing a beat, almost like you had never really stopped playing. It felt nice to do this, remembering the good times playing your lyre. Just remember, Anon was sitting here watching you. This, you think, might be his only time seeing you perform if the princess…

You shake your head, trying not to put sad feelings in you right now. No, right now you had a lyre to play for Anon. Yes, forget about what might happen, and go with what is happening right now. Plucking the last few notes in a jovial finale, you take a pause, letting out a gust of air you were holding in. Looking up, you see Anon was writing a note on the side. Turning back to you, he passes it over.

**You are very good at playing that lyre**

A smile spreads on your face from reading those words. Still, it wonders you what music he has and if it compares at all. So you ask him that in a quick note. Reading your note, he slips his soft claws in his pockets and produces a little grey box with white tentacles you remember seeing a while back cleaning his clothes. After showing them to you, he goes over and rights a note down, before giving it to you.

**That object holds over thirty thousand songs from many different bands and musicians all over my world**

Are you serious?! That little box holds that much music, just stored up to listen to whenever he wants?! So, why was he asking you to play for him? Did he want to see which one was better? You sniffle at the thought, of course his was going to be better, why wouldn't it be…

Seeing him waving another note over, you levitate the paper to read.

**Out of the thousands of songs I have on my music player I would prefer to listen to your music here**

**Your playing has made me want to listen to more of your lyre playing since I found it to be very light and beautiful and easy to listen to and if you not mind I would love to hear more if you play it?**

You could feel a warm, fuzzy feeling grow inside of you from reading that. Putting his box away, he sits there waiting patiently on your answer. A smile and the plucking of your lyre throughout the night was how you replied to him.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

It's been almost two weeks now. Tomorrow morning was when you needed to answer back to the princess, as she had stated in her message. You're really feeling down about this. You and Anonymous were such close friends now, even if you only met him for a few weeks. He's been allowed downstairs now, only after you boarded up all the windows. His shock on some of your appliances or items was a bit of fun seeing.

The two of you spent a lot of time downstairs sitting on the couch, though Bonnie had to sit on a chair beside you all, as the two of you taught Anon. Fluttershy would come by daily, along with Rarity beside her. Those two mares helped Anon understand some things in your world, after you told what was allowed to say that was.

Rarity was a slight annoyance to have around, but she helped open up Anon to speak more about his world, which was a good thing. She even brought over a few pairs of clothing, such as shirts and socks along with his 'pants' and 'underwear'. He seemed really happy to have it. So was Rarity at seeing the payment. Even after that Rarity still came by, just to talk to Anon. They were becoming pretty good friends, perfect for what you had planned.

Fluttershy on the other hand became very shy around him, probably had something to do with all the teasing you did with her. Yeah, that may not be the best thing to do, but it's just too darn much fun to quit! It was especially fun when Anon started understanding much of what you said on the second week.

And then there were you. He spent the most time with you and Bon Bon, but Bonnie usually had some business that would call for her out in town, or you'd have her do an 'important' errand. That left you and Anon together for most of the day to yourselves. You'd teach him how to talk, or write, or understand you. But really, you just wanted to 'talk' to him.

He was so interesting to read what he wrote to you. His world was fascinating, if a bit troubling to read. You may have dreamed his world up, but to know some of it like he did was very interesting. Throughout the day, the two of you, with an occasional Bon Bon popping in, would talk, study, and write down ways to make him look harmless. And at nights, you would take out your lyre and play for him. He'd sit there and listen to you playing your strings all night long.

You tried teaching him a little about playing a lyre, seeing as his 'hands' and 'fingers' seemed perfect to playing it. These last two weeks could be counted as some of the best you've ever had. Why did they have to go away so quickly?

"Lyra, Rarity and Fluttershy are here."

Letting out a sigh, you walked over to Anon who was sitting on the couch, going through the papers on your table.

"Anon, you need to go up to the room right now," you said to him, slowly saying the few words he'd be able to understand, while making gestures to what was needed.

He understood you, grabbing his papers before walking up the stairs. After entering his room, Bon Bon opened the entrance door to allow the two mares into your house. You quickly lead them over to the couch, where some tea was already prepared for their arrival, which Bon Bon started to serve out.

"Lyra, you stated yesterday you were in dire need of help from the two of us. It involved our lovely friend Anon, did it not?" Rarity says taking a sip of her tea.

You didn't feel like playing along with Rarity today. She seems to have picked that up pretty quickly from the look you gave her. The next hour involved you and Bon Bon explaining just what it was the princess had you doing for the past three weeks. Your guests were completely shocked and appalled to what the princess ordered, clearly not expecting this.

"There has to be something we can do! This, this is just, well, bad! And mean! And… not right," Fluttershy says, barely a whisper in her last word.

"The two of us were coming up with ideas on how to prove he was harmless to us, but so far, all we came up with was giving him increasing amounts of dangerous materials, to prove himself harmless on using them."

"Well, why not just take him out and show him around the other ponies! Surely that would put our princess's mind at ease," Rarity says uneasily.

"We can't. The princess's orders were to keep him in the house until he could be proven harmless."

The four of you sit around in silence, staring into your tea cups in thought.

"You, well, mentioned you wanted to see us for a reason Lyra?" Fluttershy says in a barely audible voice.

"Yes. I was hoping to get some written statements from the two of you. Both Bon Bon and I was going to do the same, hoping it would add in to what we already have."

"Of course we'll do it!" Rarity spoke out. "I would be devastated to see a friend being banished off, even IF it's to ease our princess's mind. I do hope she comes around and sees him in a better light."

"Did the princess, um, say how she was… going to…" Fluttershy looks away, clearly embarrassed at her question.

"No," you say shaking your head, "she never mentioned it. She might send guards, or even come herself to do it. I'm hoping this will be enough to stop her from doing anything."

Passing out bundles of papers to everypony, you all dive into writing. There was a lot of crumpled paper thrown about the room, a few broken quills and emptied out containers of ink. Rarity had to have hers look fancy with all those swirls and hooks in her letter, it looked more like a picture. Thankfully Fluttershy's was simpler, with a lot more paper in her stack as well.

"So when will these be sent out?" Rarity asks, giving you both hers and Fluttershy's stacks to you.

"In the morning, around the time she brings the sun up. I'm not sure why she decided to have it sent then, but you don't question the princess now do you?"

You see Fluttershy scrunch up her face hearing that.

"Those, um, they'll be sent in the morning, when Princess Celestia brings the sun up?" You nod your head yes. "Um, do you think that, she might be, well, sharing these letters with her sister then?"

You were sticking those stacks of letters away when you froze hearing that. What if she was? Was she sharing your progress reports to her? It would make so much sense if that were true! Bon Bon lets out a groan, hearing what Fluttershy said.

"D-did I say something wrong?" Fluttershy asked in a worried tone.

"Princess Luna doesn't exactly get along at all with Lyra," Bon Bon spoke. "If she was seeing those letters as well, then-"

"Then that might mean SHE'S the one that convinced Princess Celestia to do this!" you say, interrupting Bon Bon.

You were very upset now. You knew Luna disliked you, but for her to go out and do something this, this evil?! Rarity and Fluttershy slowly back up to your door, most likely to avoid your ever growing anger.

"Well, look at the time! I would love to stay and chat but I have other things that need to be dealt with. We'll see you tonight, okay?"

Tonight?

"Tonight? What do you-"turning around, you see they've already left before they could answer. Bonnie gives you a forced smile when you look at her.

"It's something that I have planned later on, nothing to worry about Lyra okay? Why don't you spend some time with Anonymous, he would probably like that."

You shake your head at that, sitting down over to your desk.

"No, I need to go over these papers, probably all night with them. If there's something that I can add in or change to help… look, I just need to work at this, okay?"

"Sure, Lyra, I'll go and feed Anonymous right now," she says, walking off slowly into the kitchen.

Okay, so now with all their letters added in, you quickly take note in what they wrote in their statements before going back to your message and documents for the princess. It was going to be a very long day.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

A loud, hard knocking could be heard from your door. You were going over your papers for the twenty-second time that night. It couldn't hurt to be sure everything was in order, right? You rubbed your head from the nasty headache pounding away. Looking at the clock, you see its well into the night. They must be here for Bon Bon, you thought. Placing your papers neatly away, you get up from your seat and walk over to the door. Opening it, you're greeted with the smiling faces of Rarity and Fluttershy, whom you let in.

"Bonnie, it's the girls! They're here for you!" you scream upstairs for her.

"Actually, darling, we're here for you," Rarity says standing close by you.

"Wait, what?"

Before you could question them, Rarity quickly shoves up to your side, preventing you from running off. Bon Bon descends the stairs before quickly joining the other side of you.

"Oh good, you're a bit early. Fluttershy, you have everything you need?"

"Yes, I made sure to pack up anything I might need for tonight."

Okay, seriously, what was going on? "Mind filling me in girls?" you question as Bon Bon starts shoving you towards the door.

"We, are going out, to have some fun, drinking!" she said, having to stop with each shove into you.

"Whoa there, I need to stay and keep writing Bonnie! What if I missed something or-"

"Lyra," she interrupts, "I don't think there's much else you can do to help the situation out anymore. And besides, you're extremely stressed out doing nothing but work! You need some time off to relax."

"I can relax here with my work!"

"No Lyra, we are taking you out and you have no say in the matter," Bonnie tells to you in a demanding way. "Fluttershy is going to stay and watch the alien while you go out with us for some fun."

The girls drag you off into the night, you protesting the entire way through Ponyville before they shoved you inside a building. It smelt very dirty in here. Yes, that's how you'd describe it. There were many ponies inside, drinking and spouting off nonsense to one another. You didn't want to be anywhere near them.

"Come on, have a few drinks and relax!" Bonnie says, shoving you up to the bar. The bartender looks over to you, rubbing a glass with a rag.

"What can I get you?"

"I don't wa-"

"A salty ocean for us three, heavy on the salt my dear," Rarity orders, taking a seat on your other side.

You slump onto the bar, groaning in defeat. This sucks, you think, as the drink was brought over to you. Taking a look around, you saw Bon Bon and Rarity on either side of you, waiting for you to drink. Grabbing the drink with your hoof, you quickly slam it down your throat, ignoring the salty taste hitting the back of your throat. Slamming the mug down, you let out a large belch before slapping the mug back to the bartender.

"Needs more powder in there," you comment, looking at the stallion.

"Lyra, maybe you should lay off the hard stuff here" Bon Bon advised, taking a sip from her mug.

You grunt at her as the bartender comes back with another drink along with a bag of powdered sugar. He dumps a good amount on the top of your drink, sliding it over to you.

"One snowy beach for the gal," he says as you lick your lips at your drink.

Buck it; if they were going to make you drink, you were going to do it right and hard.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Raaagh!" you roar out, taking another drink.

So far, you've been hit on by, what, a dozen stallions? Phhh, yeah right you thought! You could do so much better than them stinky heads! Though that last one WAS pretty nice looking you thought. The fella said he worked with clocks or something. You can't remember what he was talking about though. You lost him somewhere in the crowd.

Maybe having those drinks powdered wasn't such a good idea, but you don't care so much right now. Rarity and Bon Bon seemed to have disappeared in the crowd, probably trying to pick up somepony around here. Eh, buck em'! You got your drinks, and having a bucking fun time! Why were you so stressed out before again? Oh right, it was because of that alien. Darn alien, making you stressed out-

"Hey, watch it!"

"You watch it!" you say, bumping around the other ponies, making your way up to the bar.

You take another chug, sitting down at the bar to think to yourself. That alien sure made your life more mixed up then it needed to be. Here you were, trying to save his darn life, and all he can do is barely say 'Hello'! Wait, that didn't make sense…

Why did you not like the alien? What did he do? Taking another drink, you recall the previous two weeks with him. A smile appears on your face as you close your eyes, just remembering those times. Those sure were fun, you thought, before slapping your head on the counter. You should feel bad, Lyra, why would you hate him? He's your friend! And tomorrow, it might be his last da-

You shoot your head up with that thought. WHY WERE YOU HERE?! You should be back, spending his last day with his great friend Lyra! Stupid-headed Lyra instead has to go out and drink. You take another sip, noticing your mug was now empty. Thank goodness Bonnie was paying for these, or was it Rarity? Placing your mug down on the counter, you slip off your stool and make for the door. You needed to spend time with your good friend Anon, he needs you!

The walk through Ponyville was a struggle in itself. Your legs kept wobbling all over the streets. You kept falling over your legs, why was walking so hard! You let out a sigh in relief, seeing your house. Oh wow, you owned three of them now! That's so cool! Deciding to walk in the middle one, you open your door and see a yellow pony sitting on your couch reading.

"Oh! I didn't expect you to be back so early!" She looks out behind you. "Um, where are the girls?"

"They're at the bar, wai, w-waiting on yooou!"

"Really?" she asks, unsure of your words.

"Totally! I'm just here to spend some time, with the alien, alone! Yes, alone…"

Fluttershy looks like she's about to protest. Uh-oh, that might make spending time with your friend ever more difficult! You quickly trot up to her, barely making it to her with your wobbly legs. Maybe some unicorn pranked you and turned them into pudding legs?

"No, look Flutters. I gets you likes the aliens, thingy-ma-bobber down there," she turns red immediately hearing that, "but tonight might be the last night I spend time with him! S-so I'm gunna go and go….and go UP to his room and, have some fun and stuff with him ALL night long, okays?"

"Um, well…"

"The girls are waitings for you, Flutters! Hurry! Fly!"

You take her to the door, gently lifting her and throwing her into the air.

"FLYYY!" you scream out the now airborne Fluttershy, who seems confused at the situation, before she starts heading off to the bar.

You let out a smirk before reentering your house. Wobbly making it up the stairs, you open the door to where Anon was in. You could see he was on the bed, sleeping and without a shirt. You just smile at him, closing the door behind you and making your way over to him.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Bon Bon's POV~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Where the buck is she?!" you scream out to no one in particular, looking around the bar.

Lyra somehow slipped past you and Rarity, walking around the entire place and heckling the other ponies here. You've been trying to stop her, but it's really difficult to do when you have a mare that could do magic and teleport. Taking another walk around, you see Fluttershy sitting at the bar. Why is she here? You weren't that drunk, were you?

"Is that you, Fluttershy?" you question the pony. She turns to you and stares, unsure of what to say.

"Oh, um, yes it is Bon Bon," she looks around the room for a second, "have you seen Rarity?"

"No, I haven't. Have you seen Lyra?"

"Lyra? Yes, I did see-"

"Where is she?!"

She lets out a small 'meep', startled from your yelling. Her drink she had in her hoof spilt across the bar, eliciting a groan from the bartender.

"She's back home! Said she wanted some 'fun all night long' with Anon. I thought you knew, she said-"

You didn't stay to listen to what she had to say as you make a wobbled dash out the bar. What she just said was not a good thing. A drunken Lyra was a very obsessive and random Lyra. That was not a good combination to see when adding in Anonymous to the mix. The last stallion to come across that mix, your previous next door neighbor, wouldn't come out of his house for a full month, stating it was worse than estrus season!

You were hoping it was alright. Lyra was going to be devastated if she did anything bad to it in the morning! Slamming your front door open, you quickly run up the stairs. …Right before plummeting back down them. Oh that smarts, hitting your head like that.

Okay, maybe you should slow down a bit so you don't slip. Rubbing your head from the impact, you carefully make it up the stairs, hoping nothing went wrong. Opening the door, you had to let the darkness adjust so you could see. You would've turned on the lights, but Lyra broke those the day before. Taking a breather, you look over to the bed where movement could be seen.

Lyra was on top of Anonymous, curled up on it's chest fast asleep. Anon had an arm wrapped over her, in which she snuggled her head into as she slept. Thank goodness, that could've been worse you think to yourself staring at the two. You better leave them alone for the night you thought, closing the door.

…After you find the camera and take some pictures, that is.

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Last night was pretty much a disaster, you thought. You had to pay for all those damages from Lyra _and_ her tab. Many of the ponies there were trying to have Lyra kicked for good. Some even attempted to bring her up on charges, so you had to pay for all their drinks too. Morning came fairly quickly. Lyra had to be nudged awake to deliver the message early to the princess.

Waking up, Lyra was clearly embarrassed at where she was, but left with a smile nonetheless. Back downstairs, the two of you started depositing the letters, statements, and documents over to Princess Celestia, and most likely her sister too. Afterwards, the two of you sat there waiting for a reply.

"I really hope she changes her mind," Lyra said, looking down at her hooves.

You rub her neck with your head, hoping to calm her down a bit.

"We'll find out soon enough Lyra. Just… don't be upset if it's not the answer you're looking for."

She lets out a small whine hearing that. Now, we play the waiting game.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Canterlot~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

These past two weeks were such a chore for you. Ever since those guards decided to not abide in your sisters order, you had to… reeducate a good number of them on how to take orders. Luckily, Shining Armor was around to help out, clearly disgusted at their insubordination to your sister. It was a very tiring time here at the palace: weeding out the unruly guards, the duties you had to attend, your sister trying to 'modernize' herself.

And now it was the end of Lyra's two weeks, where she needed to prove in her 'scenario', that the alien was harmless. There wasn't a whole lot she could do there; not with how much you've restricted her. You felt a little bad doing this, even though she was the reason for all this extra work. And yet, that anger from before seems to have come back, accompanied with your sisters laughter.

"She, she, she…." Luna attempts to say, only to go back to her laughter.

You should have expected this. Lyra's a very clever mare, you thought. She got your elements involved in this. Not just one, but two of them! How did she convince them to be a part of this 'scenario' of hers?! And you couldn't just discount their words either, that would look bad on you if it was ever brought up you discredited the words of the elements, just for a 'scenario'. At least, not for a good reason.

Rarity, you could have easily removed here since she was Generosity. She could've been seen as being too generous in her help with Lyra. She would've been easy enough to put down. No, it was Kindness that had you upset. Her words spoke of the gentle nature this 'human' had. It kept the 'alien' in a very nice light. And it immediately shot down your attempts to shutting Lyra's 'scenario' down.

You knew you should've sent a guard down there to disprove it immediately. Now here you were being laughed at by your sister, with a table full of work from Lyra. This was very embarrassing to you, having your sister laugh her plot off with Lyra's little comeback.

"M-maybe you should have her get the other elements in this!" Luna gasps out in between laughs.

"…You know what? That sounds like a terrific idea!"

You could try and get the others to disprove this 'scenario' here. If anything, you had Twilight to count on for that. She'd just need some… nudging in the right direction.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Ponyville~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

The response letter back didn't take too long to get. Princess Celestia must've had a quick judgment with her decision. Taking the scroll before Lyra could get to it, you quickly read over the words the princess sent back. Lyra jumped on your shoulder, frantically trying to read the scroll herself. Her worried face slowly made its way up into a happier one with a smile, clapping her hooves together in glee. Lyra jumped off your shoulder, letting out a squeal as she jumped about the room.

"He's going to be fine!" she says excitedly, giggling about the room. "I'm gonna go wake him up and hug him!"

You yank her tail before she could run off, her body thumping on the ground before she could get too far.

"Lyra, read the rest of it before you go running off."

Lyra humphs before walking over to you, reading the rest of the message.

"So we need to get the rest of the 'elements' to accept him? No problem, in the bag, I totally have it covered Bonnie!"

You just keep looking at Lyra, wondering if a certain detail will come through.

"What?" Clearly, it does not.

"Is there anything interesting about these elements that you might find yourself having any difficulty with?"

"…Twilight," Lyra says, gritting her teeth saying her name.

"Yes."

Lyra closes her eyes, taking small, calming breathes. You're very happy that you taught her those.

"Well, at least Anonymous is safe for the time being. We just have to convince the other six elements now."

"Four, we already have Rarity and Fluttershy."

"Oh yeah, forgot they were elements." You slap yourself hearing that. "Okay, so four more to go then. How long do we have?"

"A week per pony Lyra, and we have to convince them it's safe enough for pony interaction in our town. Otherwise, she wrote she'd send some guards out and take your work away."

You start thinking to yourself on the current situation here. Why, exactly, was the princess ordering this? It felt really off to you, like maybe there was something else going on. Was this really about the alien being harmless, or did the princess have a reason for doing this? Or was all this really Luna? Lyra doesn't seem to care much right now with Anonymous safe for the moment. With a full month away, it doesn't seem that bad. You'll just have to keep her in line the entire time, making sure she doesn't mess up on anything.

"So Lyra, who should we go and, talk, to…"you trail off, looking at the vacant spot Lyra was just in.

Lyra seems to have run off from you. The yelping upstairs pretty much tells you where Lyra went. You better make sure she doesn't harm it, you think, making your way up the stairs. It might be better to wait on this until Rarity and Fluttershy get here, they can give you a better understanding of those four mares.

~End Chapter Five~

(Author's Note - This chapter is originally called "Chapter Five - Innocence Is Always Unsuspicious", but for some reason this website does not allow long chapter names... which is stupid.)


	7. Chapter Six - Gettin' Dirty

"S-so everything's going to be fine?" Fluttershy asks taking a sip of her tea.

"Yes, we're very glad the princess was reasonable," Bonnie answered. "But there's been a slight addition to what Anonymous has to go do."

It had only been an hour after you got the reply that Rarity and Fluttershy came by. It was a bit surprising to see them here this early. Rarity closed her shop for the day and Fluttershy had to get another pony to watch over her animals. They said they wanted to be there in case the princess's reply was negative.

"What does the princess expect Anon to go through?" Rarity asks, dropping a cube of sugar in her tea before swirling it.

"Well before I say this, I just want to point out that it totally slipped by my mind you two were elements, but it seems to have been a big help in her decision here."

Fluttershy turns to Rarity, looking fairly surprised at hearing that. "I, well… I didn't know we had _that_ kind of say… did you, um, Rarity?"

"No, I didn't! It is a nice little thought, how the princess would take our words seriously in a matter like this!" she says in a flaunting manner.

You let out a grunt, frustrated at hearing that. You wish the princess would have trusted you on word alone. You've been working for her much longer than they've been elements! _No Lyra, stop. You don't want to get mad at them, they've done nothing wrong. Besides, you need them for the next part._

"Anyways, the princess was very happy to have your statements, but now she wants the statements of the other elements. To prove, without a doubt, that he's harmless."

"Why would the princess want that, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Princess Celestia wanted the rest of the element's opinions. Having two of them was a good start, but she wants to hear the rest of them."

"Otherwise," Bonnie slipped in, "she would have to take Anonymous AND all of Lyra's work, and make the decision herself. And we don't want that, seeing as the alien might end up being looked at a bit too much, as in under a microscope. It _is_ an alien after all, remember?"

"So," you slam your tea cup on the table, "here's the plan! We're going to need you two to 'convince' an element of Anon's innocence! Pretty much, he needs to be with each one of you elements for a week, just like you two, and having a jump-start would be helpful."

"And, how exactly are you going to go about with this?" Rarity questions.

"Out of the four, we need to save Twilight and Pinkie for last. Pinkie, because she doesn't know how to be quiet," a unanimous agreement there, "and Twilight, because she's going to be difficult to convince at all. The princess probably already told Twilight about all of this!"

"Oh don't be absurd!" Rarity pipes in. "I highly doubt the princess would go out of her way to do something to sabotage this whole ordeal."

You don't comment on that, taking a sip from… oh wait, you slammed your cup just a minute ago, cracking it. Now your tea is all over the table. Buck it, you throw it over your shoulder and grab the teapot.

"Anyway," Bonnie says, "we want this to be off to a good start. So, we plan on it meeting Applejack first. Is there any arguments there?"

Fluttershy continues drinking her tea in thought as Rarity rubs the bottom of her chin in a thinking pose.

"Applejack would be a good place to start; she can be a good pony to turn to when in need. So long as Anonymous is completely squared away, she'd have no trouble with him."

Rarity takes a sip of her tea, doing her best to ignore your sloppy gulps out of the pot. What? You're really thirsty!

"Um, just a question but, why wasn't Rainbow Dash considered first? I mean, not that Applejack's a bad pony to start with! Just, well…"

Finishing off the teapot in a loud gasp, you throw that over your shoulder. Bon Bon dives for it before it can hit the ground.

"We figured if we could get Applejack convinced, she can easily help out with convincing Rainbow Dash. I mean seriously, what is the first thing Rainbow's going to do, seeing Anonymous?"

"Tackle him," Fluttershy and Rarity say in synch.

"Exactly, then she'll start hollering at Anon and not want anything to do with him. But, if Applejack was around when that happened, she could easily convince her otherwise! So we'll need you two to do your best to keep Rainbow Dash away from the farm for whatever reason until the end of the week, okay?"

"And just how do you intend on introducing Anon to Applejack, Lyra?" Rarity speaks up, placing her cup down on the table.

It was still full. She barely drank anything in it. You lick your lips at the cup; she wasn't going to finish that, was she? Rarity sees this and rolls her eyes at you as she pushes the cup forward. You gladly levitate that over before slamming the liquid down your throat. What? Those drinks last night were _really_ salty, and you may have had one too many…. or about nine too many. Your dehydrated throat needed it, badly!

"Anyway," Rarity continues, clearly disgusted at your etiquette, "she can't take time off from the farm. And I recall you stating that our friend Anon couldn't leave the house."

Bonnie slides her chair forward to talk for you since you were too busy licking your cup dry.

"After reading the message over, it ultimately states that we are to show it around to the elements in a manner that does not deviate from their daily routines. So, that can be worded as a way for us to bring the alien over to their residences and introduce them over the course of a week."

You slam your cup down, still feeling fairly dry. You start eyeing Fluttershy's drink, which was being drained at a very slow pace by the very mare holding it. Why was this stuff passed out again?

"Won't it be a problem if anypony other than Applejack sees him?" Rarity asks.

"We thought of that, and so long as the ponies in question can keep a tight lid on things, it shouldn't. The Apple family is known for their honesty and keeping true to their word, so it shouldn't be difficult."

Fluttershy seems to have noticed you eyeing her cup. She pulls it back to her, probably worried you'd take it. You remember it was her favorite flavor too, Lilac Springs, and that it was hard to come by. You had it imported a while back; it's such a good flavor.

"And then it's up to you two to keep Rainbow Dash away from the farm until it's well acquainted with the Apples. After that, she shouldn't be too difficult to convince it's harmless."

"I'm assuming he'll be there daily, then?" Rarity asks.

"Yes, Lyra will be doing the travel work, hiding Anon until it gets to the farm, and keeping things under wraps while watching over the alien."

"From the sounds of it, you have a pretty decent plan all set up here. I suppose I best keep Sweetie Belle away from the farm then as well."

You're eyeing the drink that Fluttershy seems very adamant in keeping away from your hooves. Oh if you could only-

You're interrupted from your thoughts when Bonnie smacks your hooves down, a small glare aimed at you.

"Lyra, I already served Anon, you, and the girls their drinks; you are being rude right now. If you want more, you just have to ask and I could go make some."

Fluttershy seems to relax, noticing Bonnie has you reeled in. She sees your angered look at being denied her drink, looking about for something to alleviate her position.

"Um, maybe you could go upstairs and drink from Anon? I'm certain he wouldn't mind the company," she says, hoping her words will work.

And she totally set you up for a good one here! You drop your jaw in an overdramatic way, looking at Fluttershy with a gaped expression.

"Fluttershy! I can't believe you would insinuate I would do such a thing with Anon!"

It takes her but a few scant seconds to get what you mean by that, her face turning red all the way down to her neck. This is fine here, you got her red and it's funny as usual, but you think you could do one better here. Showing off your eyes in a half-lidded way, you give her a sultry look, smirking at her reddened face.

"Of course, unless that's what you're hoping for and you intended to be there to… watch?"

Her wings pomf open to full length from the words as her entire body seems to turn rigid. In a quick drop, she slams onto the table, knocked out from embarrassment.

…

…

…

_Well, that's a first_, you think, looking at the conked out form of Fluttershy. Amazingly, the cup was still in her hooves, and intact! Taking the cup from her, you take greedy gulps out of the teacup, feeling the drink ease your dry throat. Looking at Fluttershy slumped across from you; you can't help but think that mare has some problems.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Anon's POV~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Looking at Lyra sitting across from you, you can't help but think this unicorn has some problems. The past two weeks with Lyra have been pretty hectic. Fun, but hectic. Lyra went out of her way to teach you things and ask you questions, all the while giving you dangerous materials, like Fire on a Stick. No, seriously. That's what Lyra called it. Not a stick that was on fire, no; it had a fucking title. Fire on a Stick. If you ever find a way back home, you were going to recommend the Olympics call their torches that from now on. It felt so much powerful than just calling it The Olympic Torch.

And she was even teaching you how to play the lyre, which was pretty neat. She's really good on that thing, too. You really love hearing stringed instruments playing and preferred it over your iPod. Of course, it was really entertaining as well. Seriously, how does she manage to pluck the strings like that with her hooves?!

Right now, she was sitting across from you, drinking from the teapot that Bon Bon had given you this morning. No loss there, the tea was really lousy in your opinion. You were only up this early since Lyra decided she had to pounce on you as you slept, squeezing you in a very tight hug. Letting out a yawn, you get nudged by Rarity into moving your right arm out. She was currently taking your measurements and you're not sure why.

You have clothes now, albeit they're a tad… off. She either dislikes zippers and elastic bands, or didn't know what they are; given that she played with your zipper when she first measured you, probably the latter. You turn slightly red, remembering that day. You shouldn't have agreed to strip. Fucking Fluttershy and Lyra were chasing you all over the place. Rarity pokes you once more as she straightened your arm out; you got distracted remembering that.

"~+Now Anon, please be a gentlecolt and listen to me when I say keep your arm extended. I must measure you for your… less than fashionable cloak Lyra wants.+~"

"~+Rarity, it can barely understand you, use easier words and slow your speech down.+~" Bon Bon says, sitting beside Lyra.

"~+We need the cloak soon, preferably later on today so we can travel out there tomorrow in the morning. I'll introduce Anon and stay with him, while Bon Bon writes up the reports and helps you two keep Rainbow Dash from the farm.+~"

Rarity forces you to stand up straight before her measuring tape extends out once more.

"~+Oh!+~" Fluttershy loudly says before rummaging around her pack she always seemed to have on her when she came here.

She pulled out a black, flat board surrounded by wood and a little carry case that clinked when moved. You immediately recognize this as a chalkboard and most likely chalk in the carry case. Just as Rarity finishes up her measuring, Fluttershy walks up to you and gives you the board. You could see some words already on it, Fluttershy stating this was a gift for you.

"~+You know Fluttershy, I'm pretty sure flowers would work better to woo Anonymous, don't you think?+~" Lyra says to Fluttershy, who begins to redden.

Lyra must've said something embarrassing, you think as Fluttershy hooves at the floor. Her facial expression does a very weird 180, turning towards Lyra.

"~+Well, I don't think I have much a chance against your compassionate hugs… unless your hugs are an excuse to, um, feel him up?+~"

Whatever Fluttershy said had a reaction from Lyra, who spat out her drink from choking on it. Now Lyra's the one with the red face as both Bon Bon and Rarity laugh, Fluttershy joining alongside with a giggle.

"~+I didn't know you had it in you, Fluttershy!~+" Rarity said. "~+Though, that _does_ raise the question. Have you been attempting something more _personal_ than just friendship with Anonymous here?+~"

You sit there for quite some time as the ponies bickered back and forth, red faces, laughter, and words shared equally amongst them. After Fluttershy and Rarity eventually leave, Lyra tells you that everything planned for today was canceled. You didn't even know there were plans for today, other than tonight with the lyre.

Lyra said she was going to introduce you to some ponies and that you had to be on your best behavior. Before you could question her on this, she leaves to go downstairs, probably to write more stuff in what you assumed was her diary. And that left you with nothing to do for the rest of the day. Just fantastic, there was nothing to entertain you with. You'd listen to music, but your iPod's nearly dead.

"Another day of studying, I suppose," you sigh to yourself.

Walking over to your desk, you take a seat, pulling out papers and work you've done in the past few weeks before getting to work.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

The rest of the day went by fairly quickly, surprisingly. Rarity came by later on to drop off a simple brown cloak for you. Lyra ran into the bathroom later that night and stayed in there for nearly half an hour, probably from all those drinks she's had. Lyra was pretty embarrassed when she came out, noticing you heard everything in there. She looked like she was about to cry from it, so you begrudgingly got up and hugged her. Hugs seem to be the only thing to stop this pony from either freaking out or crying, you found out.

Other than those two things, nothing much else happened. You had a quick dinner later on and went to sleep fairly early. You're very glad you did since Lyra just woke you up so early in the morning. She had you come downstairs with Bon Bon to sit at the table and eat a quick breakfast together.

Lyra gave you a note to read before going back to her meal. It explained how you were going to an apple farm for the week. You question exactly why you were going to an apple farm, but they more or less ignore it. It bothered you, not knowing what you were getting yourself into. Still, you felt very excited at getting out of the house. You'd be able to see more of this alien world you've landed on.

After breakfast, they make you wear the cloak wrapped all around you. It obscured your entire frame, even your hands. Grabbing your chalkboard and pack of chalk, you place them in the small bag you were given. You quickly follow Lyra out the door for the very first time since you've been here in this world.

…

Holy, fucking…

You're in a town. YOU WERE IN A FUCKING TOWN THIS ENTIRE TIME?! Slowly looking around, you see many different buildings around you with many different shapes, forms, and colors. Off in the distance you could see what looked like a fucking gingerbread house and a merry-go-round that looked fit for a fair. Were you in candyland?!

On the other side was an enormous tree with many windows and things popping out of it… that looked so cool. It was still fairly dark out right now, but the stars illuminated everything around you. You and Lyra walk down the dirt road until you were just on the outskirts of the town. Passing by all those houses, it had you gob smacked on how many residents actually lived here. And now you were standing in front a fucking apple orchard.

You didn't think Lyra actually meant a full fucking farm of these trees! Yes, these were very magical ponies you were dealing with, but how in the hell do they farm this shit?! Originally you had thought they had other beings do the work, but having them do every single thing themselves? You're not sure how to take this. There was too much to take in right now.

And then, the fucking sun had to make an appearance. Seeing light, you first thought Lyra was powering a big wizardly spell or something. Looking over, you see the huge ball of fire being lifted up into the sky at an alarming rate over the horizon. The moon did a similar dance right then, but in the opposite direction. At the time, you could've done a better job of not freaking the hell out seeing this. You weren't even aware you were running the opposite direction of the sun until you hit a tree.

You fell flat on your back, seeing spots clouding your vision from hitting your head. This was followed by many little thumps hitting your body. You make them out as the apples that used to hang from the tree. It didn't take long for a pony to walk up to you, but this wasn't Lyra. This one was an orange looking one, wearing a cowboy hat on top of her head. She gave you a smirk looking down before turning to her side, where you see a very embarrassed looking Lyra standing.

"~+So, this thang here be that alien I was told about? Fella ain't very bright in the dome, is he?+~"

Lyra smacks her face with a hoof, groaning out loud. This makes the orange one chuckle, looking down at you.

"~+The name's Applejack, partner, we here at Sweet Apple Acres be expectin' you to not run around slammin' into trees too much around here,+~" she looks around your body at the apples, "~+unless this is how you aliens go about gettin' yer apples.+~"

You continue staring up at her, not exactly sure just what she said. It sounded similar to the Equestrian that Lyra spoke… did she have an accent?

"~+Applejack, he can't understand you, not well anyways. The most he can do is write things as of right now.+~"

Lyra points over to the bag on your shoulder. She must want to communicate with you. Sitting up, you pull out the board and chalk, taking notice of the sun. Seriously, that is not natural at all. Of course, living in a land of talking ponies and magic, this must be the norm.

**Sorry, the sun scared me. Not used to things like that.**

The orange one raises a brow at that, looking at you. She wrote some words down before giving it back to you. You could barely understand what she wrote, just what was she telling you? Was she really speaking another language? Showing Lyra, she smacks her face before looking at the still unnamed pony in a deadpanned expression.

"~+Darn it Applejack, everypony's already been over this with you, stop writing in your accent!+~"

"~+And I keep on tellin' everypony I ain't gut no accent, ya hear!+~"

The two ponies continue bickering with one another as you sit there in a pile of apples. Not too far away, you can see another pony. It's a really huge red one and it's… staring at you. The big red pony walks up to the Lyra and the still unnamed pony, not looking away from you once. Somehow, the large pony made its way up to them silently, just looking at you. On instinct, and out of pure stupidity, you grab an apple and hold it out to the pony as an offering of food.

"Um, apple?"

The two female ponies stop talking, looking at you, and then turning to the big one. He snorts before reaching ever so slowly down to your hand, still staring at you. He opens his enormous jaws, reaching out for the apple in your hand. You thought you'd done a good job here for a second, until in one fell swoop he completely engulfs your hand his mouth.

"AAAHHH!"

The fucker clamped down, sucking the damn thing right out of your hand. It scared the shit out of you when he did that. You shove your hand right back out before standing back up and running… right back into the tree head first. Slumping to the ground in pain, you notice the orange one laughing her ass off with the red one grinning at you, chewing the apple.

"~+N-n-now dat ain't nice of ya to be messin' around wit the alien Big Mac!+~"

The big one snorts at what she says before walking off with a smirk. Not much of a talker, that one.

"~+This is SO not going as planned!+~" Lyra yells out. That, you understand clear enough.

You just know you're not going to hear the end of this when you get back.

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The first day on that farm went by fast. As in there wasn't anything to do but introduce you to Applejack, so you were rushed back to Lyra's house as soon as possible. That wasn't a very good idea if she was attempting to keep other ponies away from you. You're still not sure _why_ she's doing that, but there must be a reasonable cause for it. Luckily, she only had to shoo away one pony from noticing you, after shoving you behind some tree to hide that is.

Some pony with an hourglass came by claiming he was looking for a recently traveled Tellurian amongst pony-kind, whatever the hell that is. How do you know that? Well, Lyra asked if you knew what a Tellurian was. Why would you know that? You're not from this world.

Back at Lyra's, Bonnie was surprised to seethe two of you back so early. Which then led to a very long argument between the two downstairs on why you should've stayed at the farm. And now you're back there on the second day, with a big bag, in front of a hay stack… where you'll be sleeping for the next week.

"~+Don't worry Anon, you'll get used to it,+~" Lyra tells you, patting your back somehow.

Goddamn it Lyra.

"~+Don't ya worry there, we'll keep ya nice and cozy while you stay on the farm, but I be expectin' to see ya workin' your flank off in helpin' with the farm.+~"

Lyra translated everything on the chalkboard to you. She said she wouldn't be working the farms since keeping an eye on you was more important. Okay, so you were going to be doing manual labor, no big deal. And you were sleeping in a barn, cool.

Yeah, you hated this shit.

You couldn't even argue, they had you right back out that door and straight out onto their apple farm. The orange one named Applejack was telling you about the farm and what was to be expected. Lyra translated all that on the board so you could understand her better. You were shown around the place, such as the barn, the apple orchard, their house, and where they keep the animals that they don't eat, but just let live there.

Seriously, you could get the cows and chickens, they provide milk and eggs. But why are there pigs on the farm? You weren't even going to ask, because then they'd ask you what you did with your pigs. And that would be bad, because even these fuckers were sentient! A good portion of the morning was taken up showing you around the place. They had a large amount of land here. How many workers did they have?

"~+Okay ya big galoot, let's see ya tackle on some tree buckin' around here. Ya did pretty well yesterday, but let's try the pony way this time around?+~"

Lyra easily translated that to you. So they wanted to see how well you did? Looking at the tree, you could see the apples were easily in reach. Even the plant life was smaller here. Applejack turns away from the tree, rearing her back legs before slamming them right into the tree. The tree gives a shake, depositing the apples in it right to a bin that was placed right beside it.

_This doesn't seem like a very logical way to harvest apples_, you thought. Looking to your side where you heard some grunting, you could see that same big red one doing the exact same thing. Big Mac, you remembered is his name. He was walking back with some bins filled with apples, staring at you the entire time. What a weird guy.

Going up to another tree with apples, you place a bin close by to catch them. You're certain the other two are watching, so you need to make a good impression here, or at least a better one than before. Turning your body sideways, you bring your leg around as quickly as possible, slamming it right into the tree.

…

You drop to the ground in pain, screaming like an idiot. Why didn't it work?! You just had to kick the damn tree, right? Applejack was laughing her ass off, watching you squirm around the ground. At least Lyra was concerned, she came right over and applied some magic on your leg, soothing it immediately. It didn't heal it, but at least it's not hurting as badly.

"Thanks, Lyra."

She smiled from your words, helping you stand back up. Applejack was wiping some tears away from her mirthful bout, walking over to you two with a shit eating grin.

"~+Now, you're suppose' to kick the tree with yer bottom hoof Anon, not yer darn leg! Ya didn't even get that many apples of that tree there. Maybe apple buckin's not for ya.+~"

Lyra levitates a bin full of apples into your arm, which surprisingly wasn't all that heavy.

"~+There! He can carry your apples back and forth!+~"

"~+I suppose that'll work there, he'll get a good work out too. Maybe soon enough he'll be buckin' apples in no time!+~"

For the rest of the day, you were carrying buckets of these apples to the farm with Lyra walking beside you. Well, she left after a while, stating she hoped you and Applejack would talk and bond for a bit. Problem one with that, you couldn't understand her nor could you really talk, only a few short words. Problem two, fucking Big Mac was near you all day INSTEAD of Applejack.

Apparently, the two of you had a lot in common with not talking. You guess he likes that? The guy was a bit weird though, he wouldn't stop staring at you. _He's probably just looking out for his sister_, you thought. It was nearing night time when you all stopped work for the day. You were covered in dirt and sweat. You haven't had to do work like that in a long time. You're definitely gonna feel it in the morning.

"~+Okay Anon, we're gonna need ya to tidy up before ya eat with us, okay partner?+~" She pushes you towards the barn, Big Mac following close behind. Did they need something else?

They took you right behind the barn, where you could see a wooden tub… filled with water… and soap… You knew where this was going, so you make for a run to the barn, where you get stopped by Big Mac. You're still taller than him, but he was much more massive than you. The two of them drag you off towards the tub, you protesting the whole way there.

"Damn it Lyra, where the hell are you?!"

…

Sitting at the table, the two apple siblings shared very red faces. Lyra, who was sitting beside you, held her head down.

**I'm sorry Anon, I forgot to tell them about your privacy on taking baths.**

She looked like she was about to cry, but you didn't want to do anything about it. That really pissed you off, feeling violated when they stripped you down. It wasn't long before an older pony, Granny Smith, came back and quickly placed food on the table.

"~+We promise we'll wait 'fore we do anything like that again for Lyra. We guess we forgot you're an alien with alien habits…+~"

Lyra continued translating on the board so you could understand. At least she was doing something right.

**It's fine, you weren't informed of it so I can't get too mad at either of you.**

Lyra noticed she wasn't included in that, but held her tongue. Applejack lets out a sigh, while Big Mac… just keeps on staring at you. He whispers something into his sister's ear, which makes her blush.

"~+Big Mac says ya should probably wear less around, it'll um, help you fit in more 'round here.+~"

Lyra makes sure to translate anything they said to you. What the hell does that have to do with anything? Lyra by now should have already filled them in with everything, or so you hoped.

**I wear clothing because it helps keep myself covered from the elements. Besides, it is going to get cold tonight and I need all the clothes I can get.**

Big mac whispers into his sister's ear once more. She gasps and smacks his shoulder.

"~+You tell him that!+~" Okay, just what was going on here? Big Mac keeps nudging her sister, before she lets out a groan.

"~+Stupid, shy brother. H-he says he could… k-keep you warm tonight… if yer having problems.+~"

Lyra shakily translates that for you to read… Oh. Oh god! Why would she translate that! You look at Big Mac who continues staring at you, licking his lips. Okay then, _now_ you know what's up with the guy. Lyra sees your reaction, in which she scribbles quickly on the board.

**I forgot how different things might be from your world. Do you humans have same sex couples?**

You were NOT interested in this conversation! Lyra was waiting for a reply, so you scribbled one down quickly.

**It is not common, but humans do have relationships like that back home.**

Lyra reads this and nods. Right before she tells the other two. God damn it Lyra! Now Big Mac has a small grin. The fucker probably thinks that you weren't saying no to him. You'd try and say something now but you don't exactly want Lyra writing it, seeing as she could and would most likely mess it up somehow. Now you needed to keep an eye open while trying to sleep tonight. Could this day get any worse?

Apparently, the term jinx should be applied to this world as well. Your head gets slammed into a bowl of food, mash potatoes with a touch of apples in it, with something standing on top of you. It quickly jumps off you after hearing something from Applejack. Lifting your head, you look over to a very small pony sitting in a seat on your side.

"~+I thought ya were gonna be havin' a sleepover at Rarity's place with yer friends?+~"

"~+Well, I WAS, until Rarity let it slip that there was an ALIEN HERE!+~"

"~+Darn it Rarity, I told her not to tell anyone about you! But does she listen? Nooooo!+~"

Lyra starts grumbling to herself as you stare at the little pony, who tilts her head looking back at you.

"~+Ya' sorta remind me of a Diamond Dog, mister alien.+~"

All conversation ends there with what the little one says. You barely understood her, even with the accent, but you understood that she was calling you a dog. She must be referring to these 'Diamond Dog's Lyra described to you. It must have been seen as rude to compare you to one of them. The little one must've realized how rude she was, trying to hide into herself from all the attention directed at her.

Bending down really close to her, you lift your arms up in mock claws. You tried looking scary, but with mashed potato-apples on your face, it's hard to achieve. In one loud shout, you bark at her, making her jump back from shock right off the chair. The others at the table chuckle at the reaction as the little pony stared at you with narrowed eyes before smiling.

With that diffused, you look around for a napkin to wipe your face with. Reaching over the table finding one, you immediately find your face being met with a strong, wet surface. Sitting back in your chair quickly, you notice the food was gone from your face. Looking at the ponies, trying to figure out what just happened, you see they all have red faces. All but Big Mac, who was still staring at you, chewing what you identify was the food that was on your face.

…

Granny Smith eventually came back with the final plate of food. Dinner that night went by quick, what with the awkwardness now at the table. You tried offering to help clean up but they said you had a fairly long day and told you to get some sleep. You're going to be waking up fairly early throughout the week, they said. You and Lyra walk over to the barn, where they set up an area for you to sleep. It was pretty cold out though, what with the fall coming in.

Walking over to your area, you grab the bag and pull out what was supposed to be your blanket. It was a towel. You look over at Lyra, showing the 'blanket' she packed for you. She's been messing up quite a bit. You had to sleep inside a barn, living with these ponies with Big Mac not too far away… and a towel to sleep with.

You don't wait for a response from Lyra as you throw the towel in her direction before lying down on the hay. Lyra eventually goes away, leaving you lying there, trying to sleep. _Fuck, it was going to be cold tonight_/, you thought, pulling the clothes on you closer. Sleep didn't take long for you, tired as you were from today's labor. Hopefully tomorrow wouldn't be as bad.

…

You're quickly woken up by the barn doors being slammed open. It was still dark out, their crazy sun rising right then across the sky. You saw Applejack standing there at the doors. It looked like she was about to yell at you to get up for the day, but quickly stops. She lets out a small smile before turning away, walking back out. Weird, what was that about? Now that you noticed, something else was off. You were much warmer than before.

Looking at yourself, you see a large blanket was placed on you. Lyra must've come back with it last night. Why do you think that? Well, Lyra was sleeping right beside you as well, her back shoved up against you. You were planning on ignoring her for the rest of your time here from yesterday, but felt you couldn't go through with it. While Lyra was clumsy and forgetful in her own ways, she still meant good. You didn't want to wake her, but needed to start the day.

That's when you noticed you couldn't get up; something else was holding you down. Looking back, you see the very big form of a sleeping Big Mac up against your back. That's _way_ too close for comfort. And an interesting fact that wasn't all that interesting at the moment: apparently, ponies can get morning wood. You somehow find yourself quickly standing up. You scoop up Lyra before grabbing your bag and running out the door. You doubt she'd want to be near... that... upon waking up. You did not want to be around when he woke up. …You felt this is going to be a very long week.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Lyra wasn't there in the next morning. Of course, Big Mac once more slept against you, with Not-So-Little-Mac greeting you as well. You convinced Lyra to sleep with you in the barn, just until you were away from him. She didn't seem to mind it at all, and neither did you. She was very warm to sleep next to and she kept you out of trouble during the nights. That was her excuse anyways, when confronted by Applejack about it.

The rest of your time on the farm consisted of you moving their bins of apples back and forth to their barn while avoiding Big Mac. Seriously, for a shy pony like him, he was very headstrong on trying to get you. Why couldn't he see his advances wouldn't work?

It got worse halfway through the week when the sun decided to say 'fuck fall' and it got really hot during the afternoon. You stripped your shirt off, sweating like a pig. You even noticed you got a bit thinner from your stay in pony land. It must be from your new diet of no meat, all veggies, and eggs. It was fine that day until Big Mac noticed you without a shirt; he was very forward with you because of it. He kept on sniffing and rubbing up against you. It was extremely uncomfortable. You finally snapped when he licked the sweat off your arm.

"Okay, look. You seem like a cool guy and all, but I'm just not interested."

He continues to stare at you, licking his lips from your sweat. You slap yourself in the forehead, grabbing the small bag you kept around your shoulders.

**I am not interested in male ponies. I've never been with one, and don't plan on it at all.**

Reading this, he grabs your board and chalk before scribbling a reply.

**If you've never been with one, how do you know you don't like it?**

Interesting, he doesn't write like his sister. You don't like his reply though, not one bit. It reminded you of some jackasses back home that would always say that shit, never once letting up unless you gave in or changed the subject. You doubt you could change the subject with this guy and you're definitely _not_ giving in. You yell out a call for help to Lyra who came up, noticing you stopped working.

She just shrugged her shoulders at that, taking your board to say something herself.

**He's right, you know.**

God damn it Lyra! Not helping!

**If it helps, I wouldn't mind being in a herd with you and Lyra.**

And now you're confused. Showing it to Lyra, her face turns red in less than a second. Looking back and forth between you and Big Mac, Lyra incoherently sputters out in embarrassment. She pulls you away, keeping her face to the ground as you leave Big Mac there.

"~+I didn't hear a no!+~"

"~+NO!+~"

"~+...I'll ask later!+~"

Lyra groans, hearing that. You understood that whatever this 'herd' is, it probably has something to do with Big Mac in a relationship with both of you... just great. So now the two of you were avoiding him throughout the rest of the week. He even tried hitting on Lyra, thinking he could get to you through her. How the hell was that going to work?

The little pony from before, Apple Bloom, decided to pop up every now and then when she wasn't at school. Her little friends caught word from Rarity about you. Lyra went all out on Rarity for letting that one slip. They were told to keep quiet about this, since it was under orders of a princess. No one told you they had a princess watching over them, two of them in fact. That's interesting to know, but shouldn't you have been introduced to them, being an alien?

The three little fillies, or the Cutie Mark Crusaders as they call themselves, are an interesting lot around the farm. Since they're still young, they spoke simple words you could easily understand. They used you in a lot of shenanigans trying to get their cutie marks. Applejack was cool with it since it kept them out of her hair and away from their work. Lyra, of course, followed close behind.

She'd always berate them if it got you hurt or in danger, but would usually end up laughing. Thankfully, it was the last day of the week on this farm. You were currently out in the fields, transporting apples. Just then, you noticed something was… off.

Lyra wasn't anywhere near you. Strangely, neither was Big Mac. Even the little fillies are missing. You could see Applejack over by the trees, still bucking apples. Where are all the ponies? Shrugging off this weird danger sense, you pick up another apple bin and begin walking away to the barn.

You could hear a small whistling noise up from the sky. It's pretty clear out today, so you got a good look at the little speck coming down. It was a mass of colors, swirling about in the sky. You watch it move about until it immediately turns sharply in the air, aiming straight for you. Just as it comes down where you are, you jump to the side, dropping the apples on the ground in the process. The stream of colors missed, continuing straight past you.

It flies back up into the sky, making a turn for another drop at you. Getting a good look as it sped by, you saw it looked like another pony with wings. Why was it attacking you!? Hoping Applejack could help, you run away to Applejack just as the pony makes another run at you.

"APPLEJACK!" you scream, hoping it would draw her attention.

She turns at you, stopping her apple bucking, and looks up at the colors. She shakes her head, going back to her bucking.

"What the fuck?! Help me god damn-"

Too late, the pony managed to slam right into your back, sending you tumbling into the ground. Screaming in English, Applejack must not have understood you. The pony immediately lands on your back, holding you flat on the ground.

"~+Ah yeah! I totally just stopped that monster from taking your apples, Applejack!+~"

You groan in pain as you lift your head, watching Applejack walk up to the two of you.

"~+Rainbow Dash, ya shouldn't be rammin' into my guest here.+~"

"~+…Guest?+~"

"~+Yes, guest. This here's that alien Lyra and the princess told us about. Guess ya got to meet the fella a bit early. Nice going with that first impression there, the princess is gunna love that.+~"

Applejack laughs at whatever she said, walking away from you. You didn't take Applejack for the sort of person to leave you like that. She probably found this more like a joke between this pony and her. The rainbow colored pony immediately gets off of you, landing beside you. You sit up, looking at her very worried face.

"~+Oh my gosh, I am SO sorry about that! Why didn't you say something?!+~"

You couldn't understand her, she spoke way too quickly. You pointed at your ears, hoping she'll get the message.

"~+I BROKE YOUR EARS?! OH NO!+~"

The rainbow colored pony tries picking you up. You stand your ground, keeping her from tugging you away. She doesn't move you an inch from your spot. You nearly forgot about that. Even though you couldn't buck that tree before, you were surprisingly strong compared to these ponies. Maybe their legs have an extra muscle that allows them to buck harder? You didn't find out about your strength comparison until that bath incident, since you _did_ manage to lift Big Mac off the ground.

"~+What are you doing?! I need to take you to the hospital to fix your ears! Come on!+~"

You hold your ground against the very persistent pony who's still tugging on you. Off near the barn, you see Lyra and Applejack walking towards the two of you.

"~+Rainbow Dash, what are ya doin'?+~"

"~+I'm trying to get the alien to the hospital! I think I broke his ears!+~"

You look at her, then the other two before shaking your head, pointing at your ears.

"~+SEE!+~"

"~+Rainbow, he can't understand you. THAT'S why he's pointing at his ear.+~"

She stops tugging at you immediately before landing on the ground, looking at you.

"~+Oh. Well why didn't you tell me you couldn't understand us!+~" The two ponies smack their faces, which the multicolored pony ignores. She walks around you, as if to examine you for something.

"~+You don't LOOK like you're up to something. Just what was the princess talking about?+~"

"~+Wait, what do you mean by that?+~" Lyra asks.

"~+Ya mean ya don't' know?~+" Applejack asks. "~+The princess sent us all letters, explaining the situation. She just said some things to watch out for. I didn't see much wrong with the fella, so I dropped it pretty quickly.+~"

"~+I knew the princess was going to send you letters explaining the situation, but didn't think she'd still not trust us...+~"

Lyra seems to trail off whatever she said. The winged pony continues circling you, uncertain of what to take you for.

"~+Well, the princess wouldn't have sent those letters for no reason, right? If there's something wrong with it, I'm gonna make sure next week!+~"

Lyra picks her head up, hearing the rainbow colored pony. "~+So, you're still going to be here for the week, trying to see if he's fine?+~"

"~+Well of course! I got the next week off from my work to do so. Oh, um, just how are we going to do this anyway? I sort of want to do stuff still and don't want to stay in your house Lyra.+~"

"~+Not to worry there, he can stay another week!+~"

Lyra's translating all of this to you, which you are not happy about. So this 'Rainbow Dash' is having you stay at the farm another week? …Just fucking great. That's when Big Mac makes his appearance, popping up right beside you. He takes a big whiff right off your side, snorting back out while eyeing you.

"~+Eeeyup, a whole 'nother week.+~"

God damn it.

…

After being introduced to Rainbow Dash, she flies off for the day, saying she had to plan out her week with you. The other two rolled their eyes. When you asked them about that, they state it was probably just a week filled with her flying about, doing tricks while you judged her. Huh, so you're going to get a free airshow? Neat! Lyra tells you to try and praise her whenever, making her trust you much faster.

Lyra also took you to the side and started telling you all she knew about Rainbow Dash. Mostly, she liked to fly. A lot. There wasn't much else, other than she was very close to her friends. And that it might be best not to goad her into anything; she was really competitive. Once she was done, you went back to your routine for the week.

Big Mac left you alone for the rest of the day. He probably thought with the next week being on the farm, you'd be around anyways. Of course, it didn't go like that at all. Rainbow Dash took you away from the farm over to a nice lake. Lyra was to keep an eye out to make sure no one came around. She brought a box for you to hide in if anyone does. Seriously, a box? She expects to hide you in a box?

**Okay alien, now that you're here, I got some questions for you,** Rainbow Dash wrote on a blackboard she brought herself.

You didn't like the sound of that. Lyra wasn't in sight so you had no one to run off to if Rainbow Dash decides to go ballistic on you.

**First things first, you're not here to take over our world and rule it as the alien king, are you?**

She can't be serious. You grab your blackboard, scribbling down a reply.

**No, I am not. I am not even sure how I got here in the first place.**

Rainbow Dash looks at you after you answered, probably trying to figure out what to ask next.

**You're not lying, are you?**

**No, I am not lying. I just appeared here one day, falling from the sky. If I was going to take over this world, would I really be here working on a farm, being tackled by ponies?**

She chuckles at your answer, scratching the back of her head in a sheepish manner.

**Okay, next question. Why would the princess not trust you?**

_That's a fair question_, you think. It takes a minute trying to find the best words to reply.

**She is just looking out for her people, you ponies. I am an alien being, so she might find me as a bad entity amongst your kind. Of course, if she really thought I was bad she probably would have sent guards, right? So maybe she is just being cautious, is all.**

**I guess that makes sense. But I'm still going to watch you for the week, just to make sure.**

You nod your head at her, accepting her stance. Thinking on it, what should you say to try and speed this up?

**Well, while we're here, do you have any tricks to show me? I was told you were one of the best fliers around these parts.**

"~+Best around these parts?! Try best in Equestria! Just watch!+~"

And a stroked up ego makes her completely forget about her stance on you. You thought this was going to be a long week of her bugging you about being an alien, trying to prove you were a menace. Guess you were wrong. She kept doing tricks over the lake for the rest of the week with you. You only had to use the box once, too. Some really ditzy looking pegasus crashed into the lake and you barely had time to get in.

Dash's tricks were fun to watch, considering you haven't seen an aerobatic pony before. You made a reference to your own planes back home, which she took a great interest in. You told her about the first time you got to see a Blue Angels airshow; it was amazing seeing them pull off all those different tricks. She, in return, started telling you about the Wonderbolts and how she wanted to join up with them someday. She was pretty fanatical when it came to them.

At one point, the two of you somehow started talking about how to improve her flying in the sky, which led to wind patterns. You knew a little about the weather back from college, but Rainbow Dash seemed to have a huge amount of knowledge about it. She even said she could control the weather. You practically begged her to see that shit happen. Dash just grinned at you before flying up to the clouds.

And she came back down with a nice fluffy cloud. She provided entertainment for the rest of the day, shooting out lightning bolts and making it rain with each cloud she brought down. You kept asking her to see it over and over, asking her questions about how she did this. She seemed eager enough to answer as well. You _really_ wish you could've started this week with her, this shit was too awesome!

Whenever you came back to the farm, you were still expected to help around the place by cleaning up or keeping an eye on the Cutie Mark Crusaders. It's nice to know they trusted you enough to watch over those kids. Now, if you could just get Big Mac off of you.

And just like that, your two weeks here are over with. Rainbow Dash said she'd swing by whenever, hoping to keep in touch. Applejack said there was always work on the farm if you ever wanted. She even gave you a bag of bits for your work. You're not sure what to do with them so you give them to Lyra. Two weeks of this, it's been pretty cool hanging around here.

"~+Ye' don't have to go so soon, do ya'?+~"

Except for that. Big Mac was a very annoying pony, and you weren't even dating him. Not that you ever would.

"~+Big Mac, we keep tellin' you, the fella just ain't interested in you or any other stallion.+~"

"~+And imma gunna show him a guy can be just as lovin' as a mare can. Besides, I already agreed to be in his herd.~+"

"~+What are you talking about?+~" Lyra questions.

"~+The herd he's in with you, right?+~"

You're barely keeping up with this conversation, what with Big Mac's accent and Lyra's quick talking, but it seems to involve you. Lyra sputters at whatever Big Mac just said.

"~+I can assure you, th-there's NO herd going on here!+~" Lyra says with a red face.

"~+I know, and that's why I want to try and make one with him. Ya can't keep this fella away all to yourself. I mean, I already have us sleepin' together.+~"

Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash are laughing at the two arguing with one another. Applejack steps forth, pushing her brother towards their apples.

"Don't y'all worry 'bout nothin', ya hear? I'll do my best to keep my brother away from your alien there. Ya wouldn't want any competition, eh?~+"

Rainbow Dash is rolling around on the ground, laughing her ass off at the very aggravated Lyra. She pulls you away just as you donned your cloak, the darkness of the night keeping your alien features well hidden. Arriving back at the house, Lyra slams the door shut and walks over to her desk, quickly writing something down on some paper.

You plop down on the couch next to Bon Bon, who was eating some type of apple dish. You're a bit tired of eating so many apples; that's nearly all they served on that farm. Hearing a whoosh, you turn and see Lyra just burnt up the note in a lantern with green fire, taking it away under the crack of the door.

"~+Okay, that's two down. Now we just have to worry about Pinkie and… Twilight now.+~"

From the sounds of it, you're going to another place in the morning. Hopefully, it was away from the farm. And crazy ponies. And ESPECIALLY Big Mac.

"~+So,+~" Bon Bon says, taking another bite of her food, "~+I was over at the farm yesterday. What's this I hear about a herd?+~"

Lyra smacks her head on the desk, groaning to herself as Bon Bon continues eating. Feeling tired, you make your way to the bed upstairs, hoping to get as much sleep as possible for whatever they had planned.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Canterlot~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

You sigh to yourself, reading the note that just came in from Rainbow Dash, your Element of Loyalty. She has nothing but good things to say about this 'alien'. Just how did Lyra manage to convince her? Applejack you knew would most likely go along with Lyra. You were really hoping she would've introduced this scenario to Rainbow Dash first. That would've made introducing it to Applejack more difficult.

They even conjured up some interesting stories about this human of theirs. Things like how the human's not strong enough to buck apples, but is strong enough to carry large ponies, or how it got catapulted by three fillies into the air, only to get stuck in some trees.

The alien's supposed to be kind, hardworking, imaginative, and very good with fillies. Looking at the mock pictures they provided, you shiver in disgust. How could something that looks like _that_ be any of those things? Just why she would model the alien after those beings of long ago, you'll never know. All it did was bring up bad ghosts from the past you wished to have remained buried.

"Sister, I am not sure why you continue with this scenario. Why not just finish it, let it be done with?"

Looking at your sister, you see she doesn't seem to be having much fun with this anymore. Of course, neither were you. Ever since you've punished those guards, more dissidents kept popping up, thinking you were under some type of spell from your sister. Even worse, you managed to find a single pony completely by accident that was trying to bring about Luna's old moon plan one thousand years ago. You suspect there are many more of them out there.

Their first step was to dethrone you and let your sister rule alone.

He was currently locked away, being interrogated by your most trusted guards for more information. It's a very slow progress. You even had Luna volunteer to speak out amongst the guards. She told them that her plan over a thousand years ago was a horrible idea, and even stated reasons why. Just as it looked like it was working, another pony pops out refuting all that, and stating SHE was the brainwashed one.

That completely destroyed the entire meeting altogether. That guard joined the other one in the holding cells. He was just as tight lipped as the other one, too. All of this was happening because of Lyra's scenario. You're partially thankful for it, since Lyra inadvertently made it possible to find these ponies before they could enact on any of this at their own discretion. Your sister's still staring at you, waiting for an answer. You turn your head to the documents on the table, the 'human' smiling up at you, as if to taunt you with past haunts.

"If I were to quit, then that would be admitting I would quit. That would not be a good message to send out to our subjects. I am currently trying to find a way to end it quickly without making it look like I had too much involvement. Even giving those letters to the elements was risky enough."

"And what exactly have you planned now?"

Your sister walks up to you, concerned at how everything's gone. This wasn't as much fun as you hoped it would be.

"Right now, I have my most faithful student primed and ready for this. I imagine she'll be the last one to be given her week."

"During that week, she'll start to convince the others why something that looks like this," you point your hoof at the photos, "is quite possibly a bad idea to have around. I've already given her all the information on the Bleuh Bleuh Bleuh's, along with other things to help her so she's well informed on this."

"Won't that look like you're sabotaging this all together?"

"Yes, it will look like that. But being as it is, I can turn those ponies away, stating Twilight should be the most informed of such a thing appearing."

"And just what will happen if Lyra gets through Twilight?"

"Lyra won't get through her, I have a good amount of faith it'll end with Twilight."

~End Chapter Six~


	8. Chapter Seven - Efficiency Of Friendship

You are currently sitting down at the table. You're eating a meal not consisting of apples with your friend Bon Bon while Anon went up to your room.

"Okay," Bonnie says, taking a sip of her drink, "we now have four of the elements down. So we do Pinkie next, the-"

"No," you quickly interrupt, before taking a bite of your sandwich. "Twilight's next."

Bonnie looks surprised, hearing that. "And why exactly are we going with her next? Shouldn't the reasonable choice be Pinkie?"

"If we do Pinkie next, she'll want to set up a party immediately. And we're not allowed to stop her, since that would be her way of making sure he's not harmful… through fun and laughter."

"Oh, I see. And if she did that, Twilight would be there a whole week early."

"Which might be very bad for us," you say, finishing off your sandwich. "I'm not exactly sure just what Anon's reaction to Pinkie will be, but it probably won't be a very good impression with Twilight there. Plus, I just found out the princess sent out letters to the others, saying to be careful around him."

"With that, Twilight might already be wary around Anon."

"Exactly!" you exclaim, jumping out of your chair. You perform a levitation spell, sending both of your dishes into the sink to be washed later. "But if we can get him to Twilight now, we might have a better chance of convincing her he's not harmful."

"She's going to be difficult to convince. If the princess said to be cautious, Twilight's still probably going to go overboard."

Taking a seat at your desk in the living room, you look over your documents on Anonymous. Maybe something here can convince that crazy mare that Anon's a great guy.

"This would be so much simpler if it didn't rely on ALL of the elements being convinced! Just why did the princess think that was such a good idea?"

"Maybe she was setting this up for failure? I can't imagine Twilight being easy to convince, especially if the princess told her anything."

You ignore what she said as you go through your work on Anonymous, hoping something would pop up to help. The other four were easy enough to convince, they just needed time with him. The same should go with Pinkie. But Twilight, she's gonna want this to be factual and deductive in everything. She's going to put him under a figurative microscope, watching every action he takes, and go by that.

Bon Bon sits at the couch, watching you skim through your pages. You couldn't find anything that could convince Twilight that Anonymous was harmless. Slamming the table with your hooves, you slump down on the desk in frustration.

"Just how are we supposed to convince her!" you scream out, covering your head with your hooves.

"I'm… not sure. Maybe this is just one of those times we need to let luck decide the draw?"

"Luck," you repeat, clearly not convinced.

"It's not like we have anything else to go with. I think he's on his own, for the most part. All we can really do is instruct him."

You have to agree with Bonnie, what with Twilight never getting along with you. It's not your fault you saw the crazy in her. Would Anon be alright with Twilight? She wouldn't do anything like experiment on him, would she? …You're gonna have to keep a close eye on her.

Your thoughts of Anon have you reflect the past two weeks over at Applejack's. Buck, you've really been screwing up constantly, haven't you? Just WHY did you think moving him around in the mornings was a good idea anyways? And having Anon sleep in the barn? You probably could've gotten him one of their guest rooms if you tried.

_…You better not mention that to him_, you think. Even worse, your time with him was really cut off on the farm, and especially around Rainbow Dash. Stupid Dash, stupid farm… stupid you… You didn't get to do much with him at all.

"You look down, Lyra," Bon Bon says, trying to cheer you up. "It's not the end of Equestria. I'm sure Twilight can be convinced, if you give it all you got."

"And what if she can't?" you ask, more grumpily than you intended.

"Well, if it doesn't work out," she pauses, letting out a sigh before continuing, "then I guess make your time with Anon count?"

You took that meaning Bon Bon wasn't completely sure Anon wouldn't be taken away, that maybe Twilight might not be convinced. Looking on the side of your desk, you see your lyre case. You question if there was still some time tonight for that. It'd be nice to try and teach him some more, maybe apologize for messing up. Maybe he'll give you a hug afterwards?

With that in mind, you quickly shove your papers back into your desk. Grabbing your case, you quickly make it up the stairs to your room. Throwing the door open, you happily trot over to his desk where… he was not sitting. Wait, where is he? And why is it so dark? Looking around, you see Anon's on the bed, sleeping. _Of course, stupid Lyra… he was probably tired and went to sleep._

Your happy demeanor slowly drifts off, the thought of spending time with your friend thrown out the door. You give out a small huff, looking down at the case holding your lyre. Laying your case beside the desk, you sit there staring at Anon, watching his chest rise and fall with each breathe. _Maybe there'll be time tomorrow to be with him?_

Grudgingly, you turn to leave when a thought struck you. Just where were you going to sleep? You really didn't want to sleep on the couch downstairs, since it was stacked with all of yours and Anon's gear. You slowly look back over to where Anon was lying.

…

It's… not like it's an excuse or anything. You wouldn't want to just throw those packs on the floor. Yeah, you just wanted to get some sleep. Walking over to Anon, you see a spot right by him on the bed. He probably wouldn't mind, he slept by you in the barn just like this. So why was your heart thumping like mad? Stop it, stupid heart!

After taking a few breathes to calm yourself, you pull back the bedding. Sliding yourself right beside Anon, you place the blankets right back over you. The heat from Anon was already under the covers, making it easier to drift off.

Something was missing though, something from the barn. Pushing yourself slightly up against him, you could feel his arm pull out across on you. _Yes, that's what was missing_, you thought, feeling his 'hand' hold onto your chest. Oh, why did that feel so nice! Was it because of his soft 'fingers'? You weren't really sure. You felt yourself easily falling asleep without any troubles after that. You're hoping tomorrow would be a much easier day.

…

You didn't see your friend standing at the door, staring at you with a saddened look, sleeping beside Anon as you fell asleep. Nor did you see her close the door silently for the night.

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Your morning routine the next day was simple enough. Wake up, eat, and talk about how you needed to convince Twilight that Anon's not a terrible alien. Anon didn't comment on you sleeping in bed with him when he woke up. Of course, you're a light sleeper and had gotten up before he had, so he doesn't know. _He probably wouldn't be upset_, you think, eating some eggs and toast. Anon's upstairs taking a shower right now, so you kept his already made food warm with magic.

Bon Bon looks a bit glum right now; she must be wondering what she can do to help Anon. Maybe she stayed up, thinking of ways to help? Just as you were about to speak to her, Anon comes down the stairs. Going over to the couch, he grabs his board and chalk before taking a seat with you and Bonnie.

**So, what is the plan for today?** Anon wrote out before taking a bite of his meal.

Slamming your toast in your mouth, you chew on that while writing a reply to him.

**You'll be meeting another pony, a VERY important one. At night, I'll take you there. She'll meet you, and probably ask you some questions before returning.**

Finishing his eggs, he takes the board and writes out something before getting up and taking your dishes to the sink for cleaning. You look down at his chalkboard, reading what he wrote. **Should I come prepared?**

Thinking on that, you better have him prepared in case Twilight accidentally burns his clothes or something else. After he finished the dishes, you dragged him off into the living room. You wanted to try and spend some time with him since you couldn't last night. Also, you had to wait until night to transport him. It's not like you had much to do anyways.

For the rest of the day, Anon was sitting around with you and learning some more of your language or just talking with you… or writing that is. You really wanted to talk to him about his world, but it was difficult without being able to speak. Luckily, you could now start showing him how the words sounded out, so he was slowly beginning to understand you better.

Whenever he DID attempt to speak, he always had this roll in his tongue. You had to agree with Rarity, it sounded really awesome on him. You even had some time playing the lyre with him. Trying to teach Anon the lyre was difficult; he was really bad at it. But he'd always state he'd wanted to learn how to play a stringed instrument, and redouble his efforts. You were happy to help him learn to play, feeling some joy knowing he was playing with your lyre beside you.

The day ran by so quickly, you didn't even notice when it got dark. Bon Bon had to prod you in the side with her hoof to get your attention. She told you it was dark, just when you needed to transport Anon away to Twilight's. You quickly pack some simple documents you thought would help before telling Anon to get his cloak and bag ready. Maybe if you hurry up, you can get back to playing the lyre with him. Twilight has all the time tomorrow to talk to him, after all.

The two of you quickly made your way to the library in town. All the ponies were already inside right now, eating dinners or getting ready for sleep. Twilight on the other hoof tended to stay up and study. You're not even sure how much sleep that mare got. She probably uses a dangerous spell to rejuvenate herself.

Standing outside the big tree, you could see Anon was a tad too excited for your liking. You should've mentioned who Twilight was, so he wouldn't be so excited. A quick rapping at the door with your hoof announced your presence. Not a second later, you could hear the pattering of clicks, most likely the baby dragon that lived here. Opening the door, you could see Spike standing there, giving you a questioning look.

"Hello, Lyra… Not to sound rude or anything, but why are you here so late?"

"I'm here for Twilight. She should be expecting us."

"Us?" he questions, looking out the door.

Seeing the tall form of Anon, he slowly walks back inside, closing the door slowly. Rolling your eyes at his actions, you kick your hoof out, forcing Spike to stop closing the door.

"Just go get Twilight, she's expecting us," you say sharply, not amused at his actions.

_Spike probably thought he was being funny_, you thought, watching him run back inside. A short moment later, Spike comes back down, exaggerating his breathing from running back out so quickly.

"She said to come on in and take a seat, but not to touch anything. She'll be down in a minute."

Why would you want to touch anything? It's all probably dangerous anyways. Walking in, you head straight over to the couch with Anon. He takes a seat beside you, looking around the room filled with books. He pulls out his chalkboard, scribbling something down for you.

**We are in a library? A pony lives inside of a library?** Ah, he knows what a library is?

You definitely should've told him that, he might've told you about his world's libraries. You give him a nod, watching him clear his board. Spike was sitting on a chair he dragged from the kitchen, watching Anon write on his board.

"So, why's he got that cloak on? Is he ugly or something?" You let out a groan hearing that.

"No, he's not ugly. We just needed to make sure other ponies didn't see him, since we're trying to keep him under wraps for now. It's the princess's orders and all."

Nudging Anon, you motion he could take off his cloak. He gives a nod, pulling his hood down off of him before taking the entire thing off. Spike's reaction upon seeing Anon was very entertaining. He went rigid, before slowly peeling himself off the seat, and quickly running up the stairs.

It does make you wonder why he'd react like that. You could hear some type of argument upstairs being harshly whispered. Anon bumps you, pushing his board in your sights.

**Was that a small dragon?**

Rubbing your forehead, you nod once again in answer. Seriously, why didn't you ask him about these things before coming here? For goodness sakes, he knows what a dragon is! You wonder what his world's dragons are like. Oh wait, he mentioned only his species was sentient; they're probably not very intelligent and really mean.

…

…

…

It's sort of taking a while for them to come down. Just what exactly is she doing up there? You'd check yourself, but you wouldn't want to get caught up in whatever she was doing. Looking around in boredom, you hop of the couch and start looking at the books. Yeah, they said not to touch anything, but this was a bucking library! And now you're bored. You should be allowed to touch the books, at least. Anon tries to join in looking at the books, but you tell him to stay on the couch.

You're not happy with the selection of literature here. _These books are SO boring_, you thought. If she had more entertaining books to read, instead of all these educational ones, more ponies would be inclined to come here. All you saw were some Daring Do books for entertainment, and you already read those. There wasn't a single thing to read, these books were too boring! She must be hiding the good stuff somewhere else… or you just haven't found them yet.

Turning back to the couch, you see Anon had reached over to his side where books lied across a table beside the couch. Darn it Anon, no book touching! Walking up to him, you magically grab the books from his grip, looking at it more critically. The book he was holding looked awful familiar to you. Looking at the cover, the title struck you, hard.

_The Creatures of Yesteryear_.

Why was this specific book out on her table? Looking at the rest of the books, you quickly skim a few pages each. They seem related to some offhanded accounts to this very book. Just why were these out? She shouldn't have any previous knowledge of them; it couldn't just be coincidence either.

Looking at each book, you suddenly spot a scroll lying amongst them. It had the seal of Celestia on it. Did the princess tell her about this? Was she really that worried, to think he was related to them! Was she not reading your reports?! Or did she just not want Anon around?

…

Placing all the books back like they were, you sit on the couch, feeling very ill. So, this was all because the princess thought he was a risk, because he had similar qualities to those things. _This was all your fault_, you think. If you hadn't sent those images of the Bleuh Bleuh Bleuh, this wouldn't be a problem right now.

Breaking from your thoughts, Twilight comes down from the stairs with Spike following close by. She momentarily freezes, seeing Anon, before taking the seat Spike sat in just earlier. Spike disappeared into the back, probably not caring much for being around right then. Twilight sat there, eyeing Anon up and down, most likely trying to compare him to those creatures.

"So," Twilight speaks out suddenly, "you're this Anonymous that the princess mentioned."

She waited for a moment sitting there. When no reply came she spoke once more in a slower manner, allowing him time to understand what she said. He nodded to the question, poking a finger at the blackboard for her.

"I'm assuming he cannot communicate with us through speech, what with the blackboard in his claws. He also only has basic understanding of what we say."

"His 'claws' are actually hands, and you are correct. He's been here for a little over a month, so he only has his board to speak to us. He carries around a small notebook to write down his lessons we've had prepared for him to learn, to better understand us as we understand him."

"Hmm. You must have something, like a book documenting things on him. Do you have it on you right now? If possible, may I have a copy?"

You're so glad you prepared that. You levitate over your work on Anon to Twilight. She quickly skims over what you have on him, taking a few minutes to read over certain areas before turning back to Anon.

"Have you, possibly tried using magic on him to give him knowledge to speak? I can perform it, if you'd like."

See! You KNEW she would have tried something like this!

"If you would read the part on magical usage on him in that document, you will note that I had already tested that by putting some magic into his head for those types of spells. He immediately started feeling pain, so I retracted the magic from him. His body is completely fine with magical use, just not his brain."

Hopefully, she will get the bucking message here and not attempt this later on. She looks back over to Anon before letting out a tired groan.

"This would've made things so much simpler. To tell you the truth… he, well, doesn't look like what the princess described to me."

"And how exactly DID she describe Anon to you, Twilight?" you ask, curious on what the princess had to say.

"Well, she described him as probably hairier than this. Also, puppe-like. I wasn't sure if she meant looking like a puppet or acting like one. In fact, it almost came off like the alien here wasn't real, like he was being controlled. She must've meant something else, because he doesn't appear to be under control. All my books don't state anything like that, but the princess is one of the only ponies on this planet to really know what they are like."

"So, what's your say on this?"

"Right now, I'm not sure. It's too early to tell. He doesn't appear to be harmful, but I don't try and judge on first appearances anymore."

That's nice and all, but it would've been helpful right now if she did.

"Still, I'll need to fully check up on him to be sure of everything else the princess had mentioned, and to check on anything else that may be of interest."

"Okay then," you state, jumping off the couch. "So we'll see you tomorrow and-"

"What? No, I've already got a place set up for him to stay the night. I'll record all his actions and to check up on what he attempts through the night."

"…You want him, to stay here? Overnight?"

"Yes, I do. I of course expect to see you again tomorrow to help this week go by more smoothly."

Why was everything such a struggle here with Anon? Quick Lyra, come up with something reasonable to keep him away from her!

"Wouldn't it be best if I was to bring him back over tomorrow? I mean, Spike seems worried about him and all."

That was what you came up with?! You're such an idiot! Stupid, stupid Lyra!

"No, it's best he stay here for the rest of the week like this. Otherwise, you would only be able to bring him here at nights and that would lessen the time I have with him."

You really couldn't do anything about this. It was her week, she could do what she thought was reasonable, bar her actually doing anything horrible to him. Looking at Anon, you see his confused face looking at the two of you. Twilight wouldn't do anything bad… would she?

You had some major doubts about the mare. Twilight groans from looking at you. She levitates Anon's chalkboard, quickly scribbling down some words for him to read.

"There, I told him he was going to stay here for the week. If you need to drop anything off, do so in the morning when you come back."

Yeah, you should probably leave so you could sleep, then wake up, then get here as soon as possible. Anon looks at you after reading the board.

"Bye, Lyra," he struggled to say, waving to you.

You're not exactly sure how, but you somehow managed to find yourself wrapped around Anon's waist, hugging him after hearing that. You sort of flipped him on the other side of the couch too. He should be fine, though.

You could feel Twilight pulling on you with a levitation spell, but it's not strong enough for your grip. Grunting in frustration, you could feel her magic tug on you again. Wait, no, it's around you now. With a pop, you're now teleported outside.

"See you tomorrow!" Twilight yells out the door, leaving you lying on the cold ground.

_Well, that didn't go too badly_, you think. Sure, you continuously finding the princess not trusting you really stung, and you're uncertain of Anon's future… But you feel you left a good impression with him. Anon should be able to handle himself.

You just needed to hurry back home, get some sleep, and come back in the morning… and hope he doesn't foul up or anything while you're away.

Returning home, you step in and see Bon Bon sitting at the couch, reading a book. She must have been waiting for you to return before going to sleep. _She must be worried about Anon as well_, you think.

"Hey Bo-" you stop, letting out a loud yawn, realizing you were really sleepy.

"Hey Lyra," she says, looking over at you, "you looked tired."

"Yeah, I'm just gonna head up for sleep."

Bon Bon follows you up the stairs, probably to go to bed as well. You stop momentarily outside your door, realizing that Anon wouldn't be here for the night.

"You know," Bon Bon says at her door, "you can… sleep in here with me, if you want?"

You stop, right as you were entering your room. That's a really strange question, maybe she wanted to keep you company?

"No, I'm fine. I'm gonna sleep alone tonight."

"Oh… okay…"

"Night Bonnie!" you say, entering your room for the night.

"…Night."

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Your internal clock woke you up very early. You literally threw yourself into the air the moment you woke up, ramming yourself down the stairs to get some food in you quickly. No time to cook something, you were gonna eat some cereal! Fastest time yet, thirty seconds eating a bowl of cereal!

Oh no! Now you're choking on the ground from your superfast eating skills! Quick, slam yourself into a counter!

"Gragh!"

Good, okay… Maybe you should slow down a bit. Panting on the ground, you calm yourself down. Levitating your bowl, you throw that stuff into the counter and run in to the living room. Why were you thinking of slowing down? You had to move fast, Lyra fast! Levitating all your documents and papers you may need, you run out the door.

…

And then immediately return. Crap, you nearly forgot what Anon might need! Your Anon emergency pack was always prepared for just such an emergency. And now you're back out the door with a slam. You didn't mean to slam the door; hopefully, Bon Bon didn't wake up from it.

You had to get to Twilight's, hoping she hasn't done anything to him while you were gone. You needed to convince her he was a good alien! Standing outside the door, you catch your breath, panting from your run. After calming down some, you quickly rap at the door with some loud knocks.

…

Maybe they didn't hear you, so you pound even harder.

…

Now you're just slapping the door with both of your hooves, a wapa-wapa-wapa sound being made.

…You always made the weirdest sounds.

Clattering could be heard immediately after your first minute of wapa-ing the door. It gets slammed open by an angry Spike.

"Why are you here so early?!"

"Why are you sleeping so late?!" you counter.

"Lyra," Spike says in a grumpy tone, "it's six in the morning!"

"…Aaaaand?"

Spike throws his dragon limbs in the air, clearly giving up. Feeling victorious, you walk on in to find Anon wasn't down here. Where's Anon? You always made sure to wake him up around five-thirty every morning. It was even in the documents when you woke him up! Did Twilight not read those? Sure, you gave her a lot to read, but you figured she could've read those all in one night.

Spike tried directing you to the couch as he entered the kitchen, probably to make breakfast for himself. Just as he went inside, you bound straight up the stairs to where Twilight and Anon should be. Arriving upstairs, you could see Twilight was still sleeping in her bed, completely covered in her blankets. And Anon was, well…

He was suspended in the air inside a cage with the bed in it. Anon was awake, sitting at the edge of the cage with his legs dangling out through the bars.

"What the hay Twilight!"

Seriously, what was wrong with that mare? You'd at least make it level to the ground so it wouldn't wobble in the air, he could get sick like that! Walking up, Anon sees you standing below his cage. He gives a little wave to you, pointing at his door. There was a lock on it

It was pretty obvious he was locked in the cage. So, just where was the key? Looking over to Twilight, you figure she'd have it nearby. It's not under the bed, not in between her mattresses, not on her stand-

"What the hay?!"

You definitely found _something_ on the stand. You found some very familiar pills sitting on top of her stand. The pills are to help a mare on her estrus cycle. They were nearly useless around summertime, but during the winter they worked wonders. Slowly turning your head towards Twilight, you glare at the sleeping mare lying on the bed. She should've told you she was on her estrus cycle this week!

And guess what? An upset Lyra makes for a stupid Lyra.

You walk right over to Twilight, poking her body repeatedly with your hooves with your crazy Lyra speed, a pata-pata-pata sound being made.

…Why did you make the weirdest sounds?

"Darn it Twilight!" Pata-pata-pata. "Why didn't you tell me you were on your cycle?!" Pata-pata-pata.

"Gah, stop it, what's happening?!" Pata-pata-pata. "Quit it, let me up!" Pata-pata-pata.

"~+Can I get out of this cage now?+~" Pata-pata-pata.

"Either speak in a language I can understand, or don't speak at all!" Pata-pata-pata!

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You're all now sitting downstairs at the breakfast table. Twilight didn't need to feed Anon since you had brought over a premade breakfast you had set up in your 'Anon Emergency' pack. It may be a little stale, but it should be good enough. Anon seems unhappy with it though… What? You put pudding in there and everything! He better eat his pudding…

Looking over at Twilight, you see she's eating at the table as well. And of course, you also see the case holding her pills.

"Why didn't you mention you were in your cycle? I probably would've started with Pinkie instead!"

"Good luck with that Lyra, she's also in her week."

Ooh, yeah. Twilight's the better choice then. Still, she should have told you. You rub your forehead once more, feeling upset with yourself. When this whole thing is over, you're gonna have to sit down and write out everything Anon needs to be told about in your world, like what estrus is.

"Look, I don't see why you're getting upset. It's not like I would've tried anything on him."

Liar, estrus doesn't work like that. ANY male in vicinity and a mare goes at it. You look over at Spike eating his ruby omelet. You hope he hasn't been on that end of the stick yet.

"So, since I'm up so early, I suppose I'm ready to start the day with Anon."

After finishing her meal, Twilight gets up from her seat and walks back up the stairs. She immediately returns with a set of scrolls and papers.

"Now, originally I was hoping to have you out in town to watch and observe. Since that can't happen, I'm going to question him."

"Question him?"

"Yes, question him."

…

Was Twilight doing this on purpose, acting like an idiot? You don't find out if an alien's evil by asking them questions! You have to _experience_ the alien. Talk to him, eat with him, play some games or even hug him! Hugs are especially important, you found out. Still, questioning him might help prove he's a good alien, if you can direct certain questions the right way.

Of course, that didn't go as you wanted it to.

Stupid Twilight, she had him seated and talking about his anatomy! What does that have to do with him at all?! She's been going on for hours as well, asking about how his toes work or how he digests things.

"You have to start with the very basic of things," she told you when you asked her.

But this is _too_ basic!

"Twilight, isn't there some other things you could ask him that would, well, prove he's harmless?"

"Hmm?" She stopped prodding Anon's neck, trying to see how far he could bend his head. "Well, this is my week, and I shall proceed as I feel like. This body of his fascinates me, there's not a whole lot on minotaur bodies and his matches pretty closely to that."

You're grinding your teeth, trying not to get angry right now. Anon was not here to be studied!

"Don't worry; I'm certain I can do some testing on the alien here to see if he's harmless or not for the princess."

Okay, so sh-

"Tomorrow."

Okay Lyra, breathe in, and out. Calm yourself down and don't get angry at the very stupid mare here. Just bear with it, don't let it upset you. You had to keep repeating this to yourself for the rest of the day _not_ to act out on Twilight's stupidity, this was for Anon.

You just wish it was easier to calm yourself. Twilight at one time tried stripping him, but he immediately barricaded himself inside the bathroom.

"Now how am I supposed to finish my testing?" She lets out a sigh, looking down at her papers. "Guess I'll have to move tomorrow's events to the next day; I'll have to figure out a way to finish this with his little problem here."

"Problem? Anon doesn't like going around unclothed! It's normal for him to wear those, and you forcing him to strip is outright rude."

"…Still, I'll have to find a way around it."

Why is she making this so difficult for you? Trying to get teeth from him, fingernail samples, skin samples: this has nothing to do with him being harmless! You had to stop her every single time she attempted something like that, stating it was beyond what she should be doing. No harm was to come to him, it's that simple!

Apparently, she decided to take you off to the side when you stopped her trying to pull some of his hair off.

"Lyra, I get you don't want harm to come to the alien, but it needs to be fully researched. I'm going to do that, or do you want some other pony to come in and take him for that?"

"Are... are you threatening me that you'll have him taken away?"

"No Lyra, it's a promise."

She moves away from you, looking outside. It's gotten pretty dark out, you're not certain of the time.

"I'm positive I can find out if he's harmless along with this information gathering I'm performing. It probably just looks different to you, from how you went about it."

"I went about it with keeping in mind he was another living being! You're going about this week like he's just a test subject."

She moves away from the window, looking at you with a frown.

"Lyra, I think you may have gotten too close to the alien, to really see if it's harmless. Maybe when the princess sent out those letters, she really meant he was controlling you like a puppet?"

"What? Twilight, make sense here! How would he do that?! He has no magic!"

"And that is why I'm checking his body out. You never know if he has some type of fluid on him that could make you want to be friendly around him."

That's not true, you and Fluttershy already checked his body for certain things like that! It was all in your documents. Didn't she even look at them? Twilight looked over at a clock on her wall for the time.

"I think it's time for us to go to sleep here. Now that I know he wakes up early, I'll make sure to do so as well. I expect you to be here as soon as you can tomorrow."

Yeah, leaving here sounds like a good idea. Twilight was making you very upset; you didn't want to hurt Anon's chances. Before you left, you made sure the cage was forced to be on the ground. It was the least you could do for Anon before leaving there. You also managed to get Twilight to agree on no full on testing without you there.

It was difficult, but you got her convinced the princess wouldn't agree to it. Thinking about that, maybe if you worded certain things around the princess, things may go your way to a better degree. Twilight practically worshipped the princess. She wouldn't want to make her upset.

Walking home, you noted how late it was. You were dead tired from waking up extra early to get here. Inside your home, you see a glow at the top of your steps. Curious, you slowly walk towards it. The glow leads to a step ladder, which led to your roof.

Now why was that there?

…

It took you a few seconds to realize why it was there.

Ah crud, you were supposed to be stargazing with Bon Bon tonight! There was supposed to be a shower going on tonight! Did you miss it? You're not even sure why Bonnie just out of the blue wanted to see them tonight. But you promised. And now you were late because of stupid Twilight!

Climbing the ladder, you're met with a half-asleep Bon Bon sitting at a table. There was a bowl of her little candies you liked sitting there. A burnt out candle was seated in the middle, along with some glasses and glass bottle of some type. Wow, she went all out didn't she? Bonnie heard you walking up the stairs, turning in your direction with a smile appearing on her face.

"Hey, you made it!"

"Yeah, I'm sorry for being late. Stupid Twilight held me up."

You walk over to her, giving her an extra tight hug. Letting go, you give a showing of looking around real quick.

"So, what's the occasion?"

"Oh, um... I just wanted to have something special… for us."

Something special? Okay, use your thinking skills fast and try to remember just what could make this special. It was fall, there's supposed to be showers…

OH! This was supposed to be the anniversary of when you two first became roommates! You yell that out, seeing Bon Bon nod her head.

"And also the first day we started stargazing out here… And also the same day the two of us first became friends."

Sheesh, Bonnie must've been setting these things up for quite some time, how did you not notice these things? She blushes at you, pouring the two of you drinks inside the glasses.

"I know you have a hard time remembering dates like these, so I tried making them all on the same day we first met."

Wow, that is a lot of commitment to getting them all like that, just how did she manage that? And how do you keep forgetting that every year!?

"So what other days did you synch up with this?" you ask, taking a glass.

Ooh, it's apple cider from the apple family! But they don't serve this for another month. She must've been holding onto this from last year. Your friend was about to answer, when a white streak peeled across the sky, forcing the two of you to look up.

Little twinkling lights started to tear into the night right above you, lighting up the darkened sky and everything else around you. You and Bonnie stared up into the sky, completely forgetting to include the telescope. You should've gotten Twilight to get Anon to see this; he would've loved this.

You're not sure how long the showers lasted. Princess Luna really liked making them huge and awesome when they came through. Bonnie somehow ended up leaning beside you, staring off into the sky. She must've been as tired as you are right now. Looking over, you could see she's barely got her eyes open, laying her head on your shoulder.

"Bonnie?"

"Hmm…"

Yeah, she was pretty much out. The showers are just ending too, meaning you were up for quite a while. It was definitely sleep time for the two of you. Being as gentle as possible, you levitated your friend up in the air and down the stairs. You placed Bon Bon inside her bed, somehow managing to do that at the end of her door.

You are not walking in there; she probably booby-trapped her room again.

Walking back up the stairs, you clean up the glasses and candies out there, returning them to the kitchen. After finishing up, you felt that you needed some sleep; you were dead tired. You better set an alarm or something to make sure you wake up. Getting to your room, you look around in the dark for it. Upon finding your alarm, you set it up for the time tomorrow before flopping on top of your bed for some much needed rest.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Letting out a yawn, you look around wondering where you were. Right, you were back in your room.… Wasn't something supposed to wake you up? Looking over at your alarm… you feel like a righteous idiot right now.

A book. You set up an alarm, with a book.

Stupid Lyra, you don't even own an alarm… Why did you even attempt to do that? Okay, you were definitely buying an alarm later on this week. Looking at your clock on the wall, you see you're only a little late to Twilights for Anon's breakfast.

You were in drone mode getting out of your bed. You took a shower quickly, realizing you forgot to yesterday since you spent all day with Anon and all night with Bonnie. Afterwards, you went straight to breakfast and got your documents before heading out the door straight to Twilight's.

The day was nice and bright; ponies were just setting up shop out at town. It felt like today was gonna be a wonderful day. Too bad it was completely the opposite happening over at Twilight's. Clanging could be heard, along with screaming.

That sounded like Anon! You were immediately awake now, running to the door in a hurry. You don't even knock, screw the pleasantries! You buck the door open, quickly stepping inside the library. The entire place looked like a trashed up mess. You run inside, looking around for anyone here.

Twilight was found inside the kitchen, her table barricading herself inside there with Spike.

You don't see Anon there.

"Where is he?!" you scream at her.

"He stuck himself upstairs inside my bathroom!"

You run upstairs, quickly finding the door and start hitting on it. You hear shuffling on the opposite side of it. Just what the hay happened here?!

"Anon it's me, Lyra! Please, open up!"

You bang the door a few times, trying to get him to open up. It sounded like you knocked some things over on the other side; did he put something in front of the door? It takes a moment before you hear things from the other side being moved. Anon slowly opens the door, holding a broom. Anon's face had blood on it, like his nose was bashed in with it bleeding down his chin. It was still wet, glistening in the light. His ears also had some dried blood from it.

His face was clenched up in pain, confusion, and anger. Anon's face drops its anger, looking down and seeing you. Anon bends down, trying to get to your height level. You quickly walk up to him, holding him in a hug.

Darn it to Tartarus, you knew something was gonna go wrong! Stepping back, you wipe away the tears you had, trying not to cry right now. Lighting your horn up in a glow for a healing spell, Anon flinches seeing this. He holds still as you place your horn up to his face.

Assessing the damage, you found his nose was indeed broken. His eardrums were also shattered… You may have an idea why that is, but you'll wait for Twilight to prove it. Fixing his ears first, it takes some time making sure you didn't mess up the spell. He grimaces throughout the entire procedure, not hiding the fact it was painful.

You should've mentioned it would most likely be painful to him. It shows how much he trusts you, with staying still and allowing you to do this. Next time, you'll bring some pain relievers in case this ever happens again. With a final flare of your horn, his ears are back to the way they were.

…Now for his nose. You don't see his chalkboard anywhere, so you tell him slowly what needs to be done. He's not happy, but he remains still. He takes a small towel lying on the ground and places it in his mouth. Flaring your horn up once more, you say you're sorry before wrenching his nose back into position.

Anon bites hard into the towel, letting out a muffled scream. More blood came out, but you ignore that, quickly healing him while holding the nose in place. There was a reason why unicorns don't generally use healing magic outside hospitals.

It was very painful to have done on you without the proper training, feeling the searing heat and stitched up magic work inside your flesh. This is usually fixed through time, and proper training on using magic healing. You had neither. You would fix the latter as soon as you could though, after this. After a few minutes, you finish your spell. Anon slumps forward, spitting out the towel, allowing him to breathe easier.

He would probably be in a lot of pain for a while. You wish you could fix his headache he most likely has, but that's mental spelling, and you would never attempt that. Speaking of mental spelling, you had a certain crazy mare to talk to. Turning around, you get stopped by a tugging on your tail. Anon's looking at you, pointing at his face then yours. He must've seen your anger and may have thought you were gonna do something to the crazy mare downstairs.

Well, he was right.

You're so glad he stopped you; it would've been a mistake. You turn back to him and sit right beside his body, leaning up against Anon to calm him down. Actually, it was mostly to calm yourself down. But you figured it calmed him too. It takes a while before Anon could breathe easier and he's not looking so pale.

You're not sure how much time you spent in the bathroom with Anon. There wasn't a clock up here. It's been long enough; you feel it's time to go back down now. Standing up from the ground, Anon follows suit while taking his broom, following you back down the stairs.

The room downstairs seems to be back in order. You weren't really sure how much damage was down there before; you didn't take a good look when you walked in. You can see Twilight sitting at the table inside the kitchen. Spotting the two of you, she flattens her ears, looking away.

"So Twilight… care to explain what exactly happened?"

She doesn't answer. That's fine, you have some time. You tell Anon to take a seat on the couch. It's far enough away in case anything happens. You take a seat right across from Twilight at her table. She slowly takes her time, looking up at you.

"So, ready to talk or are you just going to drag this out?" You quickly take a look around, noticing something else. "And where's Spike?"

"…I had him to go Rarity's."

Good, you wouldn't want crossfire if anything happens. Seriously, you're not sure if you can take on Twilight, but you felt angry enough right now to try.

"Why did you check his head with a mental spelling, even though I specifically said not to?"

Twilight doesn't answer. She probably thinks you'll speak to the princess about this.

"You do realize you could've killed him, right? I only put in a small amount of magic in his head the first time and it pressurized his head, and that was just a scan spell I used. Even after what I had documented, you still went ahead. So whatever you were doing that destroyed his eardrums must have been really worth it… right?"

This stupid, ignorant pony. Does she not listen to anyone but the princess? Maybe she thought she just didn't need to listen to you. She continues looking off to the side in thought, clearly thinking on the situation at hoof. Finally, she turns to you.

"I was trying to understand him better. I... I got impatient this morning. I asked what he wanted to eat, but I just couldn't understand him, so I came out with everything in frustration."

You look down at the floor and sure enough, there was some leftover food she missed on the ground. Very uncharacteristic of Twilight, losing her cool like that. She must've been trying for a while and gotten really peeved if she did that.

"After that, I attempted to ask him questions, but since this morning I just got so impatient. So I used a spell on him, so that I could understand HIM. I didn't think a mental spell to understand him would backlash like it did," she looks over to the couch, spotting Anon. "He got really aggressive, so I attempted to stop him. I may have… thrown books at him to try doing that."

That explains the nose now.

"I really didn't mean to hurt him, really! I just, I didn't know what to do! He was acting so aggressive after my spell."

You know, at this point, with Twilight's crazy spell showing her lack of intelligence today, you felt you had the right to turn this mare into pulp. You REALLY wanted to hit her.

But…

You needed her for Anon's sake. Without her say, he could be taken away. And with her foul up here, you're certain you can now keep Anon from being taken.

"Twilight," you say, gaining her attention. "Please follow me up the stairs. I need to talk to you. Alone."

First, you had to talk to Twilight and convince her to do basic things with Anon. She shouldn't be too difficult to convince of that, what with Anon's injuries and with you… insinuating this could be told to the princess.

Then, you have to talk to Anon. You were gonna have to keep him here for the rest of the week. He was not gonna like that.

But it shouldn't be too complicated now for the rest of this week; you can have Twilight cowed for the next few days. Twilight's foul up really was gonna help you. You felt bad, using Anon's injuries like this, but if it kept him from being taken away, you didn't care. Anon was your friend, and he was staying here with you, no matter what.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Anon's POV~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

The first time seeing this tree house, you thought it was the coolest fucking thing ever. And finding out it was a library just made it even cooler! Then finding out a psychotic unicorn that tried to kill you inhabits such a cool place? Yeah… not so cool anymore.

You fucking hate it here.

The second day was horrible. Why did she keep trying to take things off of you? She even tried to strip you; you didn't want to know what that was for. Seriously, you were still confused on what exactly happened the third day with Twilight. You had just woken up inside a cage inside the same room with Twilight. Luckily she woke up before you and had it unlocked. There was even a change of clothes in front of you.

Getting changed, you make your way downstairs where Twilight was having her assistant dragon preparing breakfast. She asked you what you wanted, but you weren't sure what to reply with. Twilight apparently saw you were too slow, so she had brought in all her food.

Then she kept trying to communicate with you, pointing at all her food while doing so. It was difficult without Lyra there; you were hoping she would've come soon. Twilight must not have been sure what you ate. Making a showing much like you remember doing with Lyra, you pushed what you couldn't eat and grabbed what you could. She seemed to have understood that, but kept trying to talk to you without writing.

Soon enough, the dragon Spike was told to go upstairs for some reason. Twilight then tried talking to you for a bit, like before. And Twilight got upset, like before. She then got out a whole lot of books, seemingly reading from all of them quickly.

"~+There HAS to be a more efficient way in talking to you!+~" Looking at a book, she lights her horn up before blasting some magic.

That thing nearly fucking hit you! Looking back, you see some books were charred.

"~+Okay, maybe not that one," she says, looking through her books quickly. "Maybe this one? It says it'll place your writing into 'worded airs'? Won't know what it is until I try.+~"

Then you see her lighting up her horn again; yeah, not happening. You grab her horn real quick, stopping the magic immediately.

"~+W-what are you doing! Let g-go of my ho-+~" still holding her horn, you quickly scratch her ears into submission.

Ear scratching works really well with Lyra whenever she looked a little too bonkers for you, so you were hoping it would work here as well. And you were right! See, she was even groaning like Lyra did. It was a bit loud though, maybe it had a better effect on her? Of course, that's when shit started happening. Spike came down immediately, waving around something in his little claws.

"~+Hey Twilight, I got your pills right-+~"

He stood there, unsure of what to do staring at her. She found herself a fair bit embarrassed like that, and threw you back from her with magic… along with a horde of books she was currently levitating. She fucking broke your nose after a large tome made contact with it. She saw this and gasped loudly in shock.

"~+Oh no, please, let me fix your head!+~"

That was the part where your head started to really hurt, like someone was trying to rip your brain out from your ears. You started freaking out from the pain and grabbed the broom from someplace, probably the wall, before you started swiping at her away.

You immediately had to fight yourself away from Twilight for a few minutes before you could barricade yourself upstairs, until Lyra came back. Once she did come back, Lyra fixed your injured head. She even made Twilight more subdued since then. Of course, you were still here for most of the week. Why were you still here? Lyra was around very closely for the rest of the week, but today…

Today, Lyra was away, saying she needed to prepare something before you came back tonight. So far, Twilight had asked you some questions, like some basic information on your species. You really didn't like the questions on biology at all. Why did it matter how you reproduced? And why did she keep asking you about your hands? Was it because of the horn thing? Maybe she wanted to make sure how to keep you from doing that.

Lyra assured you on your safety, but you just weren't entirely sure. She did say she shouldn't be too long. Twilight, for the meantime, was still attempting to figure out a way to make your communication more efficient.

Surprisingly, it was Spike that told you the reason behind this. Twilight wasn't impatient, she just saw your writing over speaking so inefficient and wanted to speed it up somehow. Twilight had also promised no more magic on you. Not like you could really stop her, but Lyra stated part of the deal keeping you here was no more magic use. That was good, no more having her trying to take 'samples' from you.

Hearing a set of clicks, you see Twilight's gone over some weird tiles and has them set up for you. She had you rearranging them for words. It took you half an hour for her to move on to something else. Seriously, didn't she see she was taking up so much time on something so trivial? You'd write something to tell her just that, just one problem. She fucking broke your board the third day here. The purple unicorn didn't even replace it.

Right now, you were attempting to talk with scroll and quill, just like when you first started here with Lyra. The quill was so much worse than the board was. Too much ink, it didn't write. Not enough, it looked worse than chicken scratch.

It was difficult enough trying to write back at Lyra's with it, but with Twilight, she wanted information fast and fluid. Why couldn't these ponies have fucking pens already?!

…

And just like that, you felt really, really stupid.

You fucking came with three things arriving in this world, one of them a damn present from everyone before you got on that ship with Gleeks. It was one of those stupid, expensive pens that could do some weird shit. You're not very sure what extra stuff it could to; you pretty much just pocketed the thing with a smile.

Digging through your pockets, you grab the pen out. A quick inspection showed there was no real damage. Why didn't you think of using this before? Pushing the quill and ink away, you quickly reply what Twilight had asked you, a question on if you ate grass.

Seriously, why was Twilight asking you this stuff? Passing the note back over, you see Twilight shoved the note away, looking at your hand. And her horn immediately glows purple. Fucking hell, she said she wouldn't use magic on you!

Shutting your eyes shut, you readied yourself for what was coming.

And coming.

…And… coming?

Opening your eyes, you see Twilight's got your pen levitated up to her face, prodding at every little thing about it. She was speaking so quickly, you couldn't make out anything she said. Twilight ran to the back with it, throwing out scrolls all over the place, writing down so many things in quick succession in the many scrolls floating in the air. Did you somehow hit the crazy button on her again?! She had a huge smile on her face, hair frazzled about while the scrolls kept writing things down.

"~+Do you realize how much this thing can change things?! A quill and ink, combined into one! It's so much like a pencil… Why didn't _we_ think of this?!+~"

Her magic clicked on another part of your pen, and a light came from it. Oh great, it was one of THOSE pens.

"~+AND produce light! Buh, whu, how…+~"

She seems to have some sort of panic attack, breathing really hard and trying to say something. Twilight slowly lifts her eyes to yours, staring hard at you.

"~+I don't know how, but I WILL find a way to see what all that your world has to offer. I WILL find a way around that mental thing, and then I WILL have more talks with you.+~"

You point to your ears, stating you couldn't understand her really hard breathing speech. In a flash, she stops her crazy behavior looking at you. Pointing at your ear once more, she fumbles her words before levitating a scroll and writing something real quick for you.

**I was just stating how I would make more of your alien creation and have them mass spread.**

Oh, neat. So no more quills in this world! You're already making this world that much better. Seriously, fuck those quills. For the rest of the day, you told Twilight about how the pen should generally work and how they usually don't come with flashlights, but can come with other things like laser pointers.

After an hour of that, she continues on asking you about your world's creations: automobiles, telephones, disks, and so many other things. When you told her you had a music player on you, she went wide eyed, begging you to get a look. You told her it was dead, but that didn't stop her from asking about it.

You told her it needed electricity, or lightning to them. Twilight said she knew of a certain blue bodied pony that might be able to help. She must not know you already knew of Rainbow Dash. You didn't know the blue pegasus might be able to juice up your stuff, though… you're not so sure of that, you may hold off on her looking it over. Twilight had you write down all that was probably needed for get it running, mostly the voltage needed on the thing.

You noticed after talking to Twilight for a few hours, the purple unicorn was a lot friendlier now. You'd still keep an eye on her, but maybe she won't be so bad later on in the future. She sort of reminded you of Lyra, but just a hint crazier than her. And less hugs.

Lyra came back after another hour, finding you and Twilight surrounded by papers you had drawn. You weren't exactly the greatest artist, but you came up with some sketches of things like a car fairly well.

"~+All right then, I've got everything ready. She said it would be set up by the time he got there.+~"

Wait, what did she say? Lyra only glanced at you before turning back to Twilight.

"~+Now we just need to get him there. He won't be happy being back there for another week, but I'll be there to make sure nothing happens.+~"

Darn Lyra, she was speaking fast on purpose! She knew you had problems understanding them when they spoke too fast.

"~+Wait Lyra, I still have to send my scroll to the princess and prepare his stuff.+~"

Lyra groans hearing that, walking up to Twilight.

"~+You were supposed to have that ready and sent out by now!+~"

"~+Well I need to add in some information to the scroll.+~"

"~+Just hurry up, I'll get his stuff packed up.~+"

Lyra ran up the stairs, leaving you standing there. Twilight called for Spike to gather something.

"~+But I thought it was already done? You wanted me to send it out after the two of you were gone.+~"

Twilight looks down at your papers, scooping some up and placing them with the ones on your pen.

"~+I need to add these into the document. And to add in a… request I'm hoping the princess will approve of.+~"

It was night time when you were shoved out the door. You, Lyra, Twilight, and the little dragon Spike were headed to an awfully familiar place. Sweet Apple Acres. Why were you coming back here? Couldn't you just go back to Lyra's? At least there you were assured to sleep on a bed. You walked up to the familiar barn at the farm. Guess you were sleeping here for the night… again.

It was a bit dark; shouldn't there be a light or something on so you could see inside? You were about to turn around from the entrance when Lyra shoved you in with the others.

Damn it Lyra, what were you supposed to do in the dark now? At least glow that horn of yours for light, or something. Fumbling forward, you tried to find where any of those ponies were. Why were you in the dark!

"Lyra?" you called out, hoping she'd stop this right now.

Suddenly, the lights flash on in the barn. You heard what sounded like a huge roar of surprise. And standing in front of you, with a big ass smile, was Big Mac.

Now, when you hear a thundering yell of surprise followed by Big Mac up in your face, you're gonna think he's the one that's got a 'surprise' for you. Do you stay and ask what the surprise is? No, you fucking escape from where you are. So you turn around and try to run away, where you're met with a wooden beam standing up, slamming right into your face.

Groaning from the pain in your face, you try sitting up. _I must've blacked out for a second there_, you think, trying to clear your vision to look around. You hear what sounds like a festive type of music, along with a lot of color in the background. And standing in front of you is a very pink pony.

You weren't even going to attempt at translating what she said, it went by too damn fast.

"~+Pinkie, you need to slow down! He can't understand you!+~"

"~+Okie dokie!+~"

The pink pony, which you now identify as Pinkie, takes a huge inhalation of air.

"~+Heeeeelllloooooo thheeeerrree miiiissstteeeerrrr aaaalllliiieeeeennn!+~"

That was fucking creepy, how did she manage to make her voice sound in slow motion like that? Even her facial reactions were in slow motion.

"~+Pinkie, just talk in a normal manner like us.+~"

"~+Well why didn't you say that the first time, you silly filly!~+" She then clears her throat in a dramatic way, waving her front legs up in the air. "~+Hi there! My name's Pinkie Pie, and welcome to your week long pa-ar-tay!+~"

Wait a second here; did she say a week long… party? Looking around, you see streamers on the ceiling along with tables full of treats and a record player with a record in it. Pinkie grabs your arm, yanking you up in the air back on your feet. Holy hell that pony has some strength in her!

Looking around once more, you see all the ponies you've met throughout your time here in this world. At least you had familiar faces here.

"~+This is gonna be so much fun! A week long party, I've never done one of those!+~"

"~+Now hold it one second there partner," the familiar drawl of Applejack cuts in. "I still got a farm to run around here, yer gonna have to do yer parties at night time, okay?+~"

"~+Well, du-uh! I wouldn't want to bother you while you're trying to do your work!+~" She then gets really close into your face, her eyes bulging straight at you. "~+During the day, I'm gonna make sure he's a very nice alien.+~"

The striking pink pony stares at you with the creepiest fucking grin you've ever seen. It just kept stretching, like her smile was too big for her face.

"~+But for now,~+" she grabs your hand, puts something in it before running off. "~+Pah-tay!+~"

You hear some yelping from the ponies as activities resumed around the place. Looking at your hand, you see a pink cupcake in it

_Oh god, please don't let this be full of hay_, you think before taking a bite. It pretty much tasted like a cupcake should, sweet and delicious. Lyra walks up to you with a little party hat on her and a cup of… what is that, a smoothie? She takes a long gulp before looking up at you. She levitates a chalkboard over to you with some chalk from somewhere across the room. Oh thank god, you can speak to them again!

**You'll be staying here for a week with Pinkie, pretty much partying the entire time. Try to work with her; she's very spontaneous and energetic. A random variable, if you will.**

Okay, so a week full of sweets and partying with ponies? Better than you hoped for, you can make this work. And a random variable? You wonder what she means by that. Still, it shouldn't be too bad if she just wants to party, right? Lyra takes the board real quick, scribbling something else on it for you to read.

**Don't worry, I'll be here for the week. Some of the other ponies will be here as well.**

And that takes care of the Big Mac problem. Okay, this week was going to be pretty cool with you.

**If you need me, I'll be around the room drinking more awesome smoothies. Try and mingle with everypony here, okay?**

Every…. pony? Okay, that's a weird bit of lexicon. You see Lyra's already ran off to her friend Bon Bon and Fluttershy. And that left you by yourself. Since you weren't really sure just what to do in one of these parties, you wandered around for a bit.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders got to you first, immediately forcing you over to the snack bar to try and get their 'eating competition cutie marks'. Was that even a thing? Still, it was interesting. Pinkie and Dash joined in soon afterwards, trying to eat more than you. Since you were bigger, you thought you'd have the win here.

Surprisingly, it was Scootaloo that won the competition. You commented how she looked like a big, fluffy chicken afterwards, which made everyone but her laugh. The little orange pony kept throwing cupcakes at you for a good while. Pinkie also joined in for some damn reason, like it was a game.

And when they started to dance, you fucking lost it. The dancing was the highlight of the night for you. Watching Twilight dance like she had epilepsy totally made up for her stupid antics the previous week. She actually meant to dance like that, too!

You dropped on the floor, crying from laughter watching that unicorn dance. What the fuck was that, seriously?! The crazy unicorn tried defending her dancing, stating the princess was the one to have taught her some of those moves. That was when all the other ponies dropped on the floor with you, laughing their asses off. You'd imagine it was from everyone there picturing their princess dancing just like Twilight did. Twilight threw punch on all of you in anger.

After that, you mostly hung around doing your best to talk to them. Pinkie hung with you the entire time, trying to make jokes. Before all the ponies left for the night, you were told some of the different things to expect for this week. Mostly, it was a major list of party activities Pinkie set up for you. There was so much written down, you're not even sure if you could do all of them.

Pinkie seemed assured she could get it done in one week. Lyra was included in all of the activities, of course. Lyra told you this was the last week you'd have to stay on the farm before you came back home with her. You were happy to hear that news. Just one more week, you should be able to handle a week of fun and games easily.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Canterlot~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

It was over. After four weeks of having Lyra go around with your remaining elements, it was finally over.

And Twilight failed you.

It wasn't like you told her to directly state the 'alien' was harmful. But with what you gave Twilight, you had hoped it would've turned out like that. Somehow, Lyra had convinced Twilight to write in a lengthy letter, stating not only how it is without a doubt harmless, but it should be allowed to stay there and not be taken away.

Twilight must've thought you'd take the alien away for some reason in this scenario. And for good reason, too. Lyra had come up with something astounding, just to keep her scenario up and running. Something called a 'pen', which she stated the alien had brought to your people. Your faithful student Twilight even said there might be more inventions to come if the alien were provided time with her.

So now, with your permission, Twilight was allowed time with the 'alien' under Lyra's observations.

"This is quite fascinating, sister. How did we not come up with such a thing sooner?"

Looking over, you see your sister playing with one of the pens Twilight had quickly replicated a week ago and sent to you just today. It was a crude prototype, but it worked well enough to make you forget about using a quill ever again. This was possibly the best thing to come out of this whole scenario, other than you getting to bond with your sister. Maybe you can divert Lyra to making more of her inventions? You didn't realize Lyra had such potential to create things.

Looking back down at your documents, you see a picture of your elements, along with Lyra, her assistant Bon Bon, and the 'human' at a party. You were really hoping the scenario would've ended by now. It would've been one less thing to your workload since the guard incident.

Ever since you had those guards taken into the cells for interrogation, things have gotten much more difficult for you and your sister. As if in response to you taking them, you've had reports of disturbances amongst your ponies. The ponies up in Manehatten have been getting restless, being forced to stay up throughout the night, while the batponies over in Fillydelphia have been forced to stay up throughout the day.

Both you and your sister think these are coming from the two sides that seem to be fighting for either Luna's sole reign, or yours. You've sent guards there, to check up on what's causing it and to figure out a way to stop it, and if possible, to lure it out.

Looking down at the reports Twilight and Pinkie set in, you let out a frustrated groan. If only the elements weren't involved, you could've hoofed this off to someone else. But no, because of certain interests now held in this, you had to oversee it with your sister.

That darn council of yours. You regret setting it up so long ago, but it was necessary after the Nightmare Moon incident.

"What does the council have to say?" Luna asks, as if she were reading your mind.

Originally, they were against it because of the funding you wanted. You got them to agree to it, stating it was something of interest to you. You should have thought of a different way to bond with your sister. After trying to end it, they argued why you wanted it gone now. If you only kept the funding out of it, you could've just stopped the scenarios by ordering it.

So you got them to agree to have the elements be a part of it, to decide on keeping the scenario around using the scenario's rules. You only did that because you thought Twilight might stop it. It didn't stop you from continuously attempting to talk the council into ending it.

During one of your meetings with the council, Twilight sent in some 'pens' that the 'alien' invented. The conversation diverted with the council trying to order you to force Lyra to come up with more of these 'alien' inventions, and in return they'd agree with you to stop the scenarios. It may have sounded good to you, but you do not like forcing your subjects to do anything against your will..

Luckily, another member of the council agreed to what you thought about that and got them to stop arguing on trying to order you around. And good for him, you would've had them removed if they didn't stop; it would've been in your right after all. So now, the scenarios continue on until they are either deemed unnecessary by both you and the council, or they end in an appropriate manner by Lyra.

And with the elements involved, it just made it harder to end them. You look at your sister where she was still waiting for a reply from you. "They felt there was still a use in having them around," you say, not happy one bit saying that.

Luna came over, looking at the documents while twirling a pen around in the air. "Are you still trying to figure out another way to end this sooner?"

"Yes, it's taking valuable time away from us. Also, have you heard the rumors on how everypony's stating these meetings are about the guards?"

"Ah, I've had some of my more trusted guard fish for details on that. They're claiming you're working behind the scenes, trying to gain a handle on the rest of the kingdom while controlling me."

"And the same goes from what I've heard, but it's you that's doing the controlling and scheming."

Luna grabbed a bundle of papers, looking over some of the documents detailing Pinkie's week with the 'alien'. It mostly went into specifics on how many sweets it can take before throwing up, or how hard it could party. A completely silly week from what you read. Luna gives a giggle reading it before turning the page. She stops for a moment, looking off to the side in thought.

"I can't see how you can end this any quicker. But you could possibly make it harder, and have Lyra maybe throw in the towel?"

"…What do you mean?"

"From these reports, we have to assume it's harmless or possibly even valuable, if this pen proves anything. Naturally, the next step would be to bring it into society, would it not?"

"Please, just get to the point," you say, not wanting her to drag it out.

"If we bring it to society, it needs to fully delve in and be a part of it. And that means no more freeloading off the treasury."

"…Yes, I can see where you're going with this. We can take funds from the 'alien's' food and other areas, making it to be harder on Lyra. But, is that really the right thing to do? To continue the illusion of this thing, and this scenario entirely, she'd have to get an additional job."

"It's not like you'll be taking away Lyra's pay from her job, just the additional funds from extra food and her assistant."

Yes, that could work. Without the funds, you doubt she'd try and get a second job, or in this case, the 'alien' would. It wouldn't even be that difficult to convince the council either, since it would be a part of the scenarios. You didn't want to do this, but having the scenario end would free up time you could be using to better manage your kingdom and the new problems you're having with the guard.

You could also get Lyra back to deal with foreign scenarios; those were actually useful to you. She would still be allowed her alien scenarios, but she'd have to fund it herself. It would also stop so many of those rumors going around. That's what you wanted to stop the most right now.

You quickly agree, writing out what would hopefully be a stop to these scenarios. A knock on your door interrupted your writings with Luna. Ordering the pony to come in, you see it's one of your guards.

"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna," your guard says, giving a bow to both of you.

"Stand," you order, hoping to find what was so important to interrupt you.

"Your majesties, I have a letter from Princess Cadance."

Oh? This was interesting; her last letter was about three weeks ago. Taking the letter, you order your guard to exit before both you and Luna read it.

"There seems to be some disturbances in certain parts of her kingdom," Luna says over your shoulder. "She's uncertain what they are, but she states she's had rumors of ponies in both black and white garb being the cause of them." Luna sighs upon reading this.

"We better send assistance to her; those two groups must be acting up over there now... though I wonder why?"

"She's also asking for… as many candy hearts as possible to be made and shipped to her so that she may be prepared for her holiday there."

You nearly forgot Cadance had accepted Hearts and Hooves Day as her kingdom's major holiday. She was the princess of love, after all.

"Cadence needs to specify how many are needed. A reply to her stating as such will do, for now."

You take a sip of your tea, thinking back on everything that was happening: The scenarios, your guard's unruly behavior, these rebellious groups disturbing your ponies, and not to mention ruling the kingdom. With everything happening so quickly in the past month, certain details may have slipped by you without notice.

You're hoping you hadn't missed anything important.

~End Chapter Seven~

(Author's Note - Once again, this website does not allow me to make full length names for these chapters. The original name is Chapter Seven - What's More Efficient Than Friendship?)


	9. Chapter Eight - Introducing, Mr Anon!

Why is it taking so long?!

You sent in the last statement from Pinkie nearly twelve hours ago. The princesses usually reply much sooner. You didn't even get any sleep, trying to stay up to see what the results were. You fell asleep on the couch with Bon Bon.

A slamming on your door woke you up two hours ago. Twilight had come by, wondering what the princess had to say. You're not sure why she would care, but you invite her in anyways. You're pretty certain Anon will be fine... though just in case, it's a safe bet to have Twilight around. She has a better standing with the princess than any other pony, so surely she'd help out if anything goes wrong.

Bon Bon volunteered to make tea. She passes out the tea before setting the tray down on the table in front of you. It's Blackberry swirl, this time. The tea felt off, like this was more of a summer tea to you. Peppermint would've been better.

"So why are you here?" you ask Twilight, who sat across from you in a chair. Bonnie passed over some tea to Twilight before sitting down on the couch.

"Thank you, Bon Bon," she says politely, taking a sip of her tea. "And the reason I'm here is because of Anonymous, of course."

"Well I sort of figured that one out. I mean, why are you here? We could've just sent word to everypony that he was fine."

"If that's what the letters say, that is. But I don't have any doubt that is what they will say." Twilight takes another sip of her tea, giving herself some time, before responding to you. "It's about those pens of his. It's such an ingenious idea that his people have created, and yet, he states they are a very simple day-to-day item."

She continues to state each and every single thing the pen can be used for. She seems to hope they will improve everything around your society.

"I can see where Anon's pens can help us, Twilight. But where exactly are you going with this?"

"I asked the princess for permission to try and talk with him more about his people's creations and ways. I'm hoping it went through."

You stopped sipping your tea, hearing that. Slowly putting down your cup, you give Twilight the biggest glare you can. It seems to have worked rather well, your glare.

"So let me get this straight: You come into our home as our guest, and specifically state your desired wish… is to continue this project with Anon? What exactly do you plan to do with him? Keep him locked in a cage, trying to use more mental spells on him until he's a dried-out husk?"

Twilight stutters at your words, trying to get something out. "NO! That is NOT my plan at all! I want to talk to him about his society in specifics, maybe bringing some of it into our culture! I do not wish to harm him in the least! And I do not want to take him at all, he can stay here!"

You continue staring at Twilight, uncertain about her words. _Cool down Lyra, you don't want to start a fight_.

"And what of those mental spells from before? You haven't said anything about those."

"W-well, I plan on trying to figure out a way to use them safely. But not without his permission; I don't want to hurt him!"

Opening your mouth to argue why she was stupid and shouldn't be around Anon, you feel a hoof click your mouth closed. Turning to Bonnie, you give her your 'Stop interfering, I'm dealing with stupid people' look. Bonnie counters with her 'Act like an adult!' look. It's super effective!

"Lyra, I don't think arguing right now is going to help anything. We can talk about this after reading the scroll here."

You'd rather keep on-

Wait, did she say the scroll was here? Looking at your lantern, you see a scroll bearing the princess's mark on it. You dive for the scroll, tearing off the ribbon holding it closed. Skipping over everything, you read the final words to know what is to happen with you friend.

"YES!" you scream out, hopping away in delight.

He was going to be able to stay! Ooh, what should you do now?! Thinking on it, a big 'You're not going to be taken away and turned into a science project' meal sounds nice!

"Lyra, did you read the entire scroll?" you hear Twilight ask. Looking over, you see Twilight with the scroll. "For starters, it states I'm going to be able to have a hoof in his inventions now." Twilight pauses as you let out a groan in response. "Wait, why did the princess word it like that? Inventions?"

That really sucks. You didn't want Twilight bugging Anon. Still, he was staying here with you! Staring at Twilight, you watch her rereading the scroll a few times over. You were getting impatient each time she read it. Hurry up, you darn mare!

"And what else was there?" you ask grumpily.

"First off, I didn't know you got paid for him staying here. But, from the looks of things, the princess wants him to go into our society."

You were being allowed to let him out into Ponyville now?! Could this day get any better?!

"And she wants him to get a job."

This day got a whole lot worse.

"And to make sure this is done, she is going to take your funding away."

She was firing you?! Now how will you pay for your food, or Anonymous? Or more importantly, your smoothies?! You'll have to get a job, being a beggar or something equally as stupid. The only other place you know what would hire you is the circus! You don't want to work there! Would they even accept after the last time you were there? You did _sorta _burn down their tent. Twice. Surely they've forgiven you by now.

"Oh, don't worry; it says she is still going to pay you for your 'foreign scenarios'."

Twilight did that on purpose, waiting until the last second to say that!

"Grrr…"

Wait Lyra, turn off panic mode and calm down. You need to think about this. Okay, so the princess is expecting you to get back on the foreign scenarios. No problem, they should be easy enough to do. You were more worried about-

"CRAP!"

Bonnie. She immediately runs up the stairs straight to her room. After a few moments, she comes back down with a bag.

"I have to go out right now; I need to talk to some ponies about getting some stock so I can make candy for this season immediately!"

Your friend runs straight out the door, slamming it shut behind her. That left both you and Twilight sitting there by yourselves. The two of you turn to one another. You were uncertain of what to do, so you go over and take a seat. Twilight follows, sitting back down in her seat across from you.

…

…

Well, this was awkward.

"I… guess I better inform Fluttershy later on," you say. "She was also getting paid for these."

"It's not like she needed the bits. Being the town's only veterinarian that can confront manticores and bears... Well, let's just say she gets paid fairly well." Twilight pauses for a moment. "Aren't you going to tell Anon he's safe now and will be staying here?"

"I haven't even told him what these weeks were for; I didn't want to make him worried that his actions depended on what happens to him."

Levitating the scroll over, you reread it, trying to understand what exactly would be happening now with Anon.

"So," Twilight says, looking up the stairs. "How are we going to go about this?"

"Go about what?" you ask.

"The job. Anon needs a job. How are we going to get him one?"

"Well that should be obvious," you say, closing the scroll. You tie it back up with its ribbon before placing it inside the desk. Turning to Twilight, you see she's waiting for a response. "We take him out and show him around the place."

Twilight gives you a deadpanned expression.

"Shouldn't we first try and get him a job? You're going to need to find out how to get more bits to feed him, and the princess already stated he needs to get one soon as well."

"And I understand that," you say. "But Anon here needs to… get to know us better."

"I'm pretty sure he knows you _plenty _well Lyra."

You feel yourself heat up in your face, a red hue now slapped across your face. "W-what exactly do you mean by that?!" you squeak out.

"I didn't mean like that!" Twilight squawks back, a matching blush now on her face.

"I meant he needs to get to know the ponies better out there before he can actually get a job! Seriously, do you expect someone to just up and hoof him a job on the spot? He's an alien, for crying out loud! They need to get to know him better, okay?"

Twilight turns her head away, rubbing the back of her head in a very uncharacteristic way. "Okay, you have a point. So we get him to come out, introduce himself, and then get him a job?"

"I figure, moving around from place to place, introducing him to everypony, and having him around for a while will do the trick. It'll probably take a week doing this, and then we can properly get him a job."

Twilight gets into a thinking pose, taking what you said into consideration. "You know, I could always just hire him myself. I mean, I get paid by the princess. I'm certain she wouldn't mind paying-"

"Twilight," you quickly interrupt her. "Don't you remember? The princess also pays me for my services. And she already took the funding out from me. I highly doubt she will take the payment from me only to give it to you instead."

Twilight huffs, hearing your response. She takes the tea you just filled for her and slams the rest down her throat.

"Fine, so we introduce him to our society. And how do we go about that?"

"Why, by having Anon go where everypony goes to on a daily basis." The purple mare stares at you, curious what you have to say. Was it really not that obvious? "Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie works there, and he knows her. Plus, I'll also be there, so he can stay there for a meal I will purchase and be introduced to ponies that walk into the shop."

Twilight shakes her head at your answer. "It's not a suitable place for a meal, Lyra. But, I can see where you're going with this."

"After he sees some of the ponies there, and they see him, they'll slowly start to get to know him better."

"Even with all that, I don't think it's going to take an entire week Lyra. It will probably only a few days, at most."

"It all depends on how the ponies react to him. I just need to make sure nopony freaks out, and everything should be dandy."

Twilight looks at your clock, checking the time. "We better wake him up soon then. Otherwise, we'll have to wait until after the lunch hour, and there might not be enough ponies to meet him afterwards."

"That sounds very reasonable. But… Anon needs some sleep. Pinkie ran him to the ground last week. I'm going to allow him to rest for a bit."

"Well, I suppose I better go for now," Twilight says, jumping off her seat to go. "I'll be back tomorrow to ask him some questions."

Before you could ask her exactly what type of questions, Twilight pops out of your house. How rude, using magic like that. She could have used the door. Looking at the clock, you notice there's plenty of time for a quick nap yourself. You really need it if you're going to show Anon around Ponyville.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Anon's POV~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Ugh…"

So… freaking… sore. That pink pony sure was hectic. She shoved so many sweets down your throat, and you wish you were being figurative. Did these ponies never get tired of eating that much sugar? Maybe it was a part of their diets here? No, that just couldn't make sense. You wish she had served normal food last week. You barely got any sleep at all.

Apparently, she had a list of games that involved some form of talking. When Pinkie realized you could barely say a proper sentence or speak, she kept you up trying to 'teach' you. How did she do this? By tying you to a chair and forcing you to learn as quickly as possible. You're not going into detail here; you would rather not think about how she taught you. The whole damn thing took two days. At least Pinkie did some good with her… teaching methods. You could actually speak some coherent sentences now.

And that left her with four days of nonstop partying. Dear god, this pony must have crack running through her blood! When you weren't partying, you were playing games with her. You were more or less 'volun-told' for every single activity.

It didn't matter what you did, she turned every little thing into a game, from trying to speak to eating. Want a seat? Nope, it's now musical chairs. Want to drink some water? Nope, you're now having a water balloon fight.

"I thought this was a better way to drink water, don't you think?"

God damn it pink pony, give it a rest!

On the last day, Pinkie managed to slip in her sisters without alerting Lyra. Two ponies named Inkie and Blinkie. Lyra was not happy. You're not sure exactly why she'd get so mad; they're just two more ponies. Pinkie tried getting her parents, Mr. Clyde and Mrs. Sue to come on over. But they had to attend their… rock farm. Really? A rock farm? What the hell is a rock farm for?

It also turns out Pinkie's the weird one in the family… go figure. The other two sisters were pretty mellowed out in comparison. And Pinkie wasn't the only one that liked cooking. Blinkie and Inkie shared some brownies with you they brought over…Or, at least tried.

It didn't take long to notice why these two were so chilled out. You recognized what they gave you as 'special brownies'. Guess they did more than farm rocks up there. You remember back in college, your roommate made these stupid things all the time. Pinkie was upset for the rest of the day, what with her sisters attempting to drug you. Not that it was illegal here. No, these things were completely fine to consume without getting in trouble. Pinkie was upset because Lyra was upset.

Who knows what pony pot would've done to you? Of course, more stupid shit came from it. Lyra said she'd have to test what things had a bad reaction to you. Just great, she'll most likely test if pony pot is harmful to you somehow. Still, Inkie and Blinkie were pretty cool to hang around with. They didn't have you running all over the place, trying to play blindfolded hide-and-seek all night like Pinkie did.

You were so happy to be back with Lyra at the house. You're still pretty sore, but you can easily ignore that. Looking at the time, you notice Lyra's being pretty lax today. You wonder why that is. She's allowed you to sleep in for once, too. When you question Lyra about that, she just told you to relax. She had something planned later on, but it was a surprise.

There wasn't much to do though. You could try and study some more, but that defeats the purpose of relaxing. And that left you with lying around, thinking. Your thoughts drifted to everything that led up to you being here.

You've given up the thought of this being fake a long time ago. You were either dead or transported to this land. You found it was easier to imagine you were dead. This was one hell of an afterlife. Living alongside ponies…

What are you supposed to do with yourself here? You're not even sure if your expertise is of any use in this world. Do they have an environmental crisis that needs handling? You doubt it. It was only a matter of time until you're forced to get a job. Not that you wouldn't mind getting a job. You do feel bad, living under these pony's roof and not contributing anything. But what the fuck are you supposed to do for work?

You hear a knocking at the door, interrupting your thoughts. You sit up on the bed, calling Lyra to come in.

"Hey Anon!" Lyra said, bouncing inside. "Are you ready for the day?"

That was another thing from last week. You could understand what they were saying without much trouble. You only had problems when it came to accents or quick speak.

"…Uh, yes?" you say unsurely.

Lyra giggles at your remark, tugging at your pants leg to stand up. Doing so, you follow her downstairs into the living room.

"You better grab your bag, just in case you needed to write what you have to say. We're going out for lunch!"

"Where is lunch?" you ask.

"Why, were going to eat out in Ponyville!"

So you're finally going out into their society. This was going to be interesting. You grab your bag before Lyra shoves you out the door. The day was bright out, with only a few clouds flying in the sky. It was a pretty darn good day to be out. It felt really nice, not having to wear your cloak. The warmth of the sun felt great on your skin. It wasn't a very long walk to the town; you could see some buildings just up ahead.

Looking down the road, you see a pony walking towards the two of you. You don't recognize this pony. This one has some red in her. Well, you better make a good impression. Before you could greet the pony, she immediately stops and stares at you. With a scream of something that sounded oddly like 'monster', she runs away in a flash.

"Ugh… out of ALL the ponies we'd first meet, why'd it have to be HER?!"

"Is something wrong?"

"Nothing wrong... there's just some things that need to be changed now.."

Obviously, something went wrong. It doesn't stop the two of you from continuing further into the town. There were plenty of buildings scattered about, many of them with signs telling you what they sold. And near what looked like the middle of it all were many different stands, with ponies selling their wares.

Of course, they all stopped whatever business they had the moment you came in. Everyone stared at you, probably wondering what in the hell you were. More than half of them ran off, trying to get away from you. You figure it's because of that other pony from before. A few did walk up to you in a curious manner.

Okay then, just don't make any sudden movements. Let them determine… how…

Where the fuck is Lyra? Slowly looking around, you don't see her anywhere near you. Where did that pony go? Oh, there she is. All the way down the road, in front of a stand. How'd she get there so fast? Yeah, you should probably go to her and not be here alone.

Two thumps could be felt, hitting your back. You stumble forward slightly, before regaining your balance. What the fuck was that?

"So THIS was the monster Rose was talking about? It sure can take a hit!"

"Well, since we couldn't find Dash anywhere, we'll just have to get rid of it ourselves!"

Monster? Turning around, you see two pegasus ponies floating in the air in your direct line of sight.

They quickly grab the sleeves of your shirt before attempting to drag you off. Yeah, not gonna happen.

That's the thing about these pegasi. They were extremely durable to just about anything and could hit hard if they got enough speed. But… they were pretty weak compared to you. Well, ponies in general were weak. You just had to watch out for their back legs, that shit really hurt if they hit you with those.

So really, they were barely dragging you away from your spot. The ponies surrounding you watched in amusement as the two pegasus ponies grunted from overexerting themselves, trying to drag you away.

"Come ON! Why isn't this working?! I got training at the academy and everything! I should totally be able to move this monster easily!"

"Should we get more help? I'm pretty sure I could find Snowflake, he'd definitely be able to move him."

More ponies? You don't want to be thrown out of this town for no reason. As you were about to protest, you notice just above you was a cloud. It had a certain rainbow tail sticking out of it. So, she was up on a cloud? Perfect, she can help you here. Applejack did say Dash liked snoozing on the clouds whenever she felt like it.

You sway your arms, dislodging the pegasus ponies. Before they could return, you quickly rummage through your bag for something to throw. An apple, that'll work. Rearing your arm, you chuck the thing straight up at the cloud. Thankfully, it was flying low, so the apple made its mark.

"What the hay?"

Rainbow Dash's head immediately pops out, rubbing the top of her head. Spotting you, she throws the apple back. You easily catch the thing as Dash flies down to you. You hear some of the ponies snicker from your actions. Well, at least not all of them thought of you as a monster… you think.

"Why'd you throw that at me, Anon?"

"Need help," you state, pointing at the two pegasus speaking quickly to Dash.

They kept repeating how they got word of a monster heading to Ponyville to steal their stallions and rule over them, and how it needed to be stopped.

"What, monster? Girls, he isn't a monster, stop being rude to him!"

Apparently, Dash's words immediately stop the two floating pegasus. They hover there, staring at Dash, before turning back to you.

"So, you're not a monster?" one of them asks.

""Nope, he's just an alien from another dimension," Dash answers. You facepalm, hearing her answer.

"He's an alien?! That's so cool!"

_You have got to be kidding me_, you thought. And now they're both prodding you with their hooves, asking questions about you. So they don't care for monsters, but aliens are cool? Aren't they technically the same? Don't question it; just chalk it up to ponies being weird.

You seem to have gathered a small crowd. Looking around, you see Lyra's over on the side, drinking a smoothie. Huh, you never noticed how easily she blends into the background like that. When you spot her, she waves over at you with a smile before returning to her drink. So what, did she plan for things to go like this? She must've talked some of the ponies in the crowd into giving you a chance.

That had to be it. There's no reason to think she abandoned you for a drink, right?

…

Feeling a poke in your side, you look over and see the two pegasus ponies hovering by you.

"Hey, we're sorry for thinking you're a monster."

"Yeah, super sorry."

"It's fine," you say, waving them off.

"You speak sorta funny, Mr. Alien."

"I like it!" one of them say before floating up to your face. "He's got a really cool accent!"

Before you could answer why, Dash quickly speaks up.

"That's because he's still learning how to speak our language, so he's gonna have that weird roll in his tongue," Rainbow Dash says, before looking at you. "So, is there anything else, Anon?"

You shake your head no. It was easier than trying to talk. Your tongue just wasn't used to their language yet.

"Well then, I'm off for some more sleep. Catch me later when you want to hang out, okay?"

She quickly zips back up to her cloud and pushes it higher in the air, before lying back down on it. The crowd seems to have dispersed, once their curiosity about you was sated. You found it strange how these ponies immediately regard you with indifference.

Well, except for those ponies that ran off. There were more of those than were in the crowd. Hopefully word would get around that you weren't hostile. You don't want a lynch mob chasing your ass around the place.

You felt a tugging on your shirt, pulling you from your thoughts. Those pegasus ponies are still there, hovering in front of you.

"Well, since _that's _over with, we don't have much to do today."

"So, we'd like to be your friends around this place!"

"Two totally awesome pegasus friends, might I add."

Hearing the clopping sound of hooves, you see Lyra walking up to your side.

"I don't see any harm in you coming along. I was just about to show Anon around the place and get some food at Sugarcube Corner."

"Totally! We'd love to come! Their pineapple sundaes are on sale today!"

Sugarcube Corner, now why does that sound familiar? Once again, you are pulled from your thoughts from those pegasi.

"We never got to introduce ourselves!" they both say simultaneously.

The two ponies immediately do some weird spinning around in the air. It looked like a sideways eight, how they were looping. All of a sudden, they collide together in mid-air, holding one another.

"I'm Flitter!"

"And I'm Cloudchaser!"

"And we're the two awesomest pony sisters in all of Ponyville!" they say together, loudly announcing that last part.

"And I'm hungry!" Lyra says. "Let's get going there before they stop serving lunch!"

"Alright!" the two pegasi say.

Lyra turns around, heading further down the road. You follow behind, hoping to get there soon. You have the pegasus sisters on either side of you. Flitter sure is awfully close to your side. She grabs your arm, holding it up to her chest as she continues to hover. When you look at her in confusion, she merely answers with a smile. You could hear Cloudchaser snickering on your other side.

This is probably just normal pony actions; Lyra's done stuff like this before, after all. Just ignore it. You were too hungry at the moment to really care. Hopefully, they have something simple to eat.

…

God damn it. _Now _you remember this place. Pinkie works here. And of course, all they served was mostly sugared items. When you ask for water, Pinkie tried giving you sugar water. It took all of your willpower not to get upset at the pink pony. Eventually, you were given plain water with some muffins. At least the muffins weren't that sugary.

Of course, eating here couldn't be a simple affair. No, Lyra had to introduce you to every single pony that walked in. Nearly every pony that came into the shop was scared out of their wits when they saw you. They quickly got over their fears, what with Lyra helping out. You figure the scene of Flitter pressed up against your side helped with that as well. Though you sort of wish she'd stop trying to grab your arm.

The most interesting of the ponies had to be that cross-eyed one named Derpy. She immediately zoomed over to you, declaring that something eating muffins couldn't be bad. That was, of course, after she ate all your muffins. Oh yeah, and the fire incident. No one knows how, but she somehow started a fire from spilling your glass of water. You doubt even magic has an answer for that.

Afterwards, Lyra dragged you off for so you could see the rest of the town, Flitter and Cloudchaser following close behind. The Quills and Sofas shop was very upset with you. Apparently, they needed to completely change many of their orders to your pens. You didn't stay very long. Rarity's boutique was an interesting stop. Upon entering the store, you could hear Rarity calling out she'd be there momentarily. And upon spotting you, she immediately tackled you.

"Ooh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Rarity yelled out, holding you in a tight hug.

"Um… you're welcome?"

Rarity lets go of you, standing back to give you some space. You haven't seen Rarity with that big of a smile before.

"Ever since I got those custom orders from Lyra and used them in my work, everypony has been ordering them nonstop!"

"Oh, are they done?" Lyra asked Rarity.

What exactly are they talking about? Rarity has the four of you follow her inside. The two pegasi give you questioning looks, which you shrug at. You enter a room full of little mannequins made of pony physiques. So maybe they're equinequines? You chuckle at your horrible pun. Rarity grabs a box with her magic, floating it over to the four of you. Lyra immediately dives in, trying to get to her…

"Socks?"

"Why yes, socks! They're all the rage! They're comfortable, fit well on any hoof, and they're very stylish! There's so many ways to design them, and with multiple sizes too!"

Lyra was giggling like crazy, putting the socks on. She squealed once they were on, clapping her front hooves together.

"So awesome! They match my color and everything!"

"I want those socks," you could hear Flitter saying beside you.

You found it weird that they'd enjoy these that much. Lyra takes her socks off, placing them back into the box.

"These are too perfect! I can't thank you enough!"

"Why darling, you should be thanking Anon for these wonderful little things."

And now you're lying on the ground, being squeezed by Lyra. You hear something along the lines of a 'pony hug pile' somewhere, and now you are covered in ponies squeezing you in all directions.

…

Ponies sure can hug for a long time. You think Lyra was a bit surprised by the others joining in, but it didn't stop her. The four of you were soon out the door, waving Rarity off. Lyra was currently in thought on where to go to next with her box floating beside her with magic

"Oh, oh! Could we show him to Cloudsdale? I bet he would love that!" Flitter said, hovering around in the air in swoops.

"Please, you just want to show him our house," Cloudchaser said, hovering to Flitter before nudging her side. "With something else in mind."

"C-Cloudy! I don't mean like _that_!" Flitter yells out, turning bright red.

"Yeah right! It's become pretty darn obvious the moment you saw Anon here you had something else in mind. Just admit it…" Cloudchaser hovers right to her with a big grin. "You have the hots for him!"

"AAAHH!" Flitter screams out.

She immediately starts batting Cloudchaser with her hooves, in an attempt to stop her from talking. It doesn't work. Cloudchaser continues, making her sister more embarrassed by the minute. It was really awkward with you standing there and listening. You look over to Lyra on what to do. She's watching the scene happening with a small glare, drinking her-

Where the hell did she get that smoothie? Wait, that's not important.

"Lyra, what… uh, what do we do now?"

"We should probably continue on. If they can stop their stupid antics, they can catch up."

Lyra turns around, continuing down the road to wherever she had planned on going. You quickly follow, leaving those two ponies behind to argue further on. Lyra moves you around the town, introducing you to different ponies. Many of them kept away, not wanting anything to do with you.

"They'll… come around eventually. And then they'll see you're an awesome person, just like I do."

There were plenty of others that didn't mind you at all. And even a few that were very friendly, especially the smoothie vendor.

"Any friend of Lyra's is a friend of mine!" the smoothie vending pony said, selling another smoothie to Lyra.

You ignore the blatant use of liking you to sell smoothies to Lyra. Honestly, you doubted it really mattered how he sold them. She seems obsessed with them.

"How many is that, Lyra?" you ask.

"I dunno… my eighth one today?" She takes another loud, noisy slurp of her drink. "Oh! It's getting dark!"

You look up, noticing the sun's barely moved in the sky. How could she tell that was happening? Oh wait, the damn sun is magic. She probably just knows.

"I still have to show you to some really awesome friends!" Lyra says, walking down the road in a hurry. "I got word that they were finally back in town, so it's a great opportunity to see them before heading home."

You follow her, trying to keep up. Quite frankly, you don't want to be left alone like when she went to get a smoothie. You also noticed something… odd. There seemed to be some ponies that were following you, but keeping well hidden from everyone else. That doesn't seem like a good thing to you. When you tried to tell Lyra, she just spouted that it must be your imagination.

"Here we are!"

You were now standing outside a very simple looking house. It looked like all the other houses around here. But… you could hear this strange thumping coming from it. What was that?

"When I was back in college, it was these gals here that were the greatest of buds I knew. Well, except for Bon Bon, she's the bestest BEST bud."

They have a higher education system here? You just figured all the ponies learned their talents, and then they found a job surrounding that talent.

"Oh right, I didn't tell you. We have something called an academy. There are different types, and I even heard the Wonderbolts just came up with their own a few years back. Pretty much, it's where ponies and other beings all around can come and learn. Mostly, ponies there learn their talents more thoroughly along with being taught different things that will help them with life. They get a certificate and everything that says you graduated! I bet you humans have something similar to that."

"…Yes, we do."

What else are you supposed to say here? You were limited to saying easy words; you can't really have a nice lengthy conversation with her.

"Anyways, I hung out with them since they were also in the same department I had to originally go through, the music department."

Lyra walked up to the door, hitting it with a rough, hard knock.

…

After a few seconds of waiting, she went back to the door and started hitting it repeatedly. A really weird wapa-wapa-wapa sound came from it. What the hell? You stare at Lyra and her strange knocking. This was so strange, and yet, so darn fascinating to watch. Lyra ceases her consistent hitting of the door once she notices you were staring at her. A red blush quickly spread on her face from embarrassment.

The door slams open, revealing a much disheveled looking pony along with the thumping of some heavy… it was hard to describe. Wait, was this dubstep?!

"I _knew _it was you! You're the only crazy mare I know with those equally crazy sounds-"

The pony stops talking once she notices you. She quickly turns to you, looking you up and down.

"So, THIS is that 'alien' that I've heard about."

Word must travel fast around here, you thought.

"Well hurry up and get in here!"

The pony runs behind the two of you, shoving you both inside the house. Vinyl slams the door shut once all three of you are inside

"It's been so long since we've actually talked, Lyra!"

"Well, that's not my fault the two of you travel so much."

"And it's so awesome! You haven't partied hard until you met those crazy griffons." The goggled pony walks over to a box, shoving some buttons with her hoof that immediately turns off the thumping. "For a bunch of beak-heads, they sure can party hard! Oh, I to-tally forgot to introduce myself to your alien pal here. Name's Vinyl Scratch, and don't you forget it!"

"Uh… Name's Anon."

Vinyl 'oohs' at whatever you said, rubbing her chin in thought.

"I could definitely use your kickin' voice in some of my mixings. That accent of yours would make an awesome addition to them."

"Mixings?" you question.

"That's right! I'm the DJ that everypony knows all around, the one and only, the lightning musician! I'm the first one to bring these poppin' tunes to everypony's ears in Equestria, and the world around!"

Vinyl stops speaking and scrunches her face up, like she was trying to remember something. Her face lights up in recognition of something as she turns away from the two of you.

"Ah right, I nearly forgot. I should probably get some drinks and junk for guests, so I'll be back in a second, hm-kay?"

And that left you standing in a room that you were frightened to move around in. You don't want to mess with anything that uses electricity… Oh wait, it's lightning here. You look around the place, trying to find something safe to sit down on. You spot Lyra sitting over on a really nice looking couch, waving you over to sit by her.

"Vinyl's liked to experiment with weird things back at the academy. She came in with music theory, trying to show that lightning was another way to producing music. At the time, all we used lightning for when it came to music was playing records, or recording it."

Lyra moves a hoof out, pointing out to the room. You could easily see the many wires and speakers… and other unidentifiable things lying about the place.

"This is the result. She traveled with her friend, showing off her music at parties. There were many ponies soon after trying their own hoofs out at lightning music. It's hard work, but has a neat result."

So this Vinyl was a music pioneer? That's actually really neat. She must've been working on one of her songs when the two of you came here. Vinyl came back with a tray full of cups and a kettle, along with another pony walking beside her.

"Vinyl here does not know what's appropriate to give to guests. Thankfully, I was in the kitchen at the time."

"Yeah, yeah…" Vinyl grumbles out. She quickly levitates over a table and places it in front of the couch you were sitting at before placing the tray down.

"This here's Octavia," Vinyl says, waving a hoof in her direction. "She can be pretty uptight at times, but she's cool."

Octavia glares at Vinyl before taking a chair and moving it in front of the table. She quickly pours some tea before passing it over to you and Lyra. You look down at the cup in your hands. Taking a sip, you notice it's a cup of simple tea. A bit bland to you; it really needed some sugar.

"Is the tea not to your liking?" Octavia asks you, probably noticing your grimace at the taste.

"No, just needs sugar," you reply. Lyra drops some sugar cubes into your cup before stirring it with magic.

"That is a very fascinating accent you have their… well, pardon my manners. I don't know your name."

"Anonymous. Anon, for short."

"Yes, Anon it is then. And where do you hail from, exactly? I've never heard such an accent before."

"He's not from around here, Octavia," Vinyl tells her. "He's an alien from another dimension or something. Ooh, that sounds like an awesome name for a song!"

"I don't take to believing rumors that go around. Why, for all I know, he's a minotaur that shaved himself!"

"But… he has no horns." Vinyl points out.

"Hmm, yes you are correct there. I suppose I should've been more observant on that. I do apologize, Anon."

"OOOH! So you'll apologize for that, but won't apologize for wrecking that awesome upgrade I did for your cello?"

"What you did was an abomination to music!"

"I made it even better!"

"And that's your opinion, keep it to yourself! What you did completely corrupted the beauty of that stringed instrument…"

"Puh-lease! Giving it that lightning made it so much sicker to listen to!"

"You're vocabulary is horrible! You don't use 'sicker' there; it's… it's stupid!"

"You're stupid!"

You stare at the two arguing mares sitting across from you. Turning to Lyra, you see she has a wide grin on her watching the scene.

"They're fun to watch," Lyra says to you. You find it pretty messed up she watches this for her amusement. Though… you have to admit it is sort of interesting to watch them go at it.

The two of you were returning home after spending an hour watching those two fight. It got very heated for a while, with Lyra adding in her two cents every now and then. She didn't help the situation at all. You wanted to leave in fear of being brought into the fight yourself. You could probably stand up to them easily, but when magic came into the equation you wanted nothing to do with it. That's not saying they were physically hitting one another, though they did throw stuff at one another for a while.

"Do they do that a lot?" you ask Lyra.

"Yeah, it's sorta their thing. But they're still pretty cool friends. Sure, they had their differences in the academy, but they worked around them."

You find it strange those two would be friends, and stranger that they travel together for their music.

"Well, this certainly was an interesting day," Lyra says when you reach her house. "I can't wait to do it again tomorrow!"

Whoa there! You certainly do _not _want to do that again! Sure, it was interesting to finally meet so many different ponies, but too many of them flat out rejected you or made it harder to be out in town.

"Lyra, I'm not sure I like that," you tell her, walking inside the home.

She stops and turns to you with a scrunched up face. "But… why not? It's a lot of fun! …Right?"

"I'm not saying it wasn't. But I don't think any of the ponies really wanted anything to do with me. Sure, there were a few that liked me and I wouldn't mind being around. But overall, I'm not so certain about me meeting them." Ugh... that took a lot of effort to say.

"But, I'm trying to get you to… to… to meet new ponies so you can…"

It looks like Lyra's struggling for an answer. Why exactly _is _Lyra attempting to get all the ponies to befriend you?

"Lyra, it's perfectly fine. I'm surprised to have the friends that I do right now."

"B-but, I _have _to get you to be liked!" Once Lyra said that, she immediately covers her mouth, surprised.

You scrunch your face up from her answer. She _has _to get you to be liked? Why the hell… Moving over to the couch, you take a seat. You gesture Lyra to do the same right by you. Slowly making her way over, she pushes herself on the couch next to you. Lyra keeps her head turned away, not wanting to look at you.

"Now… why exactly do you _have _to do this?" you ask.

"W-well…"

You continue staring at her, waiting for an answer.

"It's…" Lyra takes a gulp of air, trying to speak. "It's… part of my job," she said so quietly, you barely made it out.

"Part… of your job? So wait… I'm just part of your job?"

You think back over the last couple of months here with Lyra. A lot of it didn't make sense to you. But some of that now did.

"So, that time over at the farm?"

"They're… the elements of harmony. The p-princess wanted to have you judged by them… to see if you were safe."

…

"You're telling me that I was being _judged _this entire time I was with you? Was I being judged by you too, Lyra?"

…

She doesn't answer you. The thought of what she said stung a little. Sure, it was weird admitting you were somewhat attached to them. But you couldn't really help it after being here for so long.

"But why were you put in charge of me? Surely the princess would've come out herself to inspect me and see me for herself."

"I… I don't know why she hasn't yet! I was the first pony to find you! And…" you hear a hiccup coming from Lyra. "A-all I know is that she put me in charge of you! I just… I just wanted to show you weren't harmful to us… and to be your friend."

Whoa there, it was _not _your intention to make her cry here at all! Fuck… now you feel like such an asshole.

"I j-just wanted to prove to everypony that I could do a good job w-with you! And… and…"

You let out a sigh, watching the little pony sitting beside you cry her eyes out. Fuck, what are you supposed to do here?

Scooting closer to Lyra, you pull her over to you in a hug. She squeaks out in surprise.

"Look Lyra, I'm not… I'm not judging you, okay? I just found it weird you were taking me around town like this."

"S-so… you're not mad at me for not telling you about why you were here?"

"No, I'm not." It would be silly to even think of being mad at her.

"Will you s-still be my friend?"

"…Yes Lyra, I'm still your friend."

Lyra immediately grabs you in for a tight hug, hearing that. She must feel really insecure about herself if she reacted this strongly to being your friend. You rub her back in an attempt to calm her down. It only tightens her hold on you. At least she was being careful with her horn. She nuzzles against your chest, wetting the area with her tears from before. No, wait. She's still crying.

"Lyra, why're you crying still? I said I'd still be your friend, you have nothing to worry about."

"…I'm just so happy right now, I can't help it."

…

The two of you sat there for some time into the night. Lyra eventually fell asleep on you, her little squeaky snores alerting this to you. Grabbing her, you carefully walk up the stairs and her room. Lying her down in the bed, you pull the coverings over her before walking back downstairs.

_Guess you're sleeping on the couch tonight_. You can talk with Lyra later about going out again tomorrow. It doesn't take long before you find yourself falling asleep.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"So… how's the situation?"

"Sir, he's currently in Ponyville under the careful watch of Lyra. She is, as of now, taking him around and introducing him to the population there, sir. And… I think the other group may be onto us, sir."

…

"Very well. Keep a careful eye on him. We don't want the other group interfering with our plans."

"And what happens if they do interfere, sir?"

…

"Then we'll deal with the human. He's to keep out of reach of them at all costs, do you hear me?"

"SIR, YES SIR!"

"You have your orders… dismissed."

~End Chapter Eight~


	10. Chapter Nine - What's Your Talent?

The next day, both you and Lyra sit down at the table early in the morning to talk about last night. She tells you everything about what her job was and how she write's up scenarios for the princess on foreign affairs that _may _happen. It amazes you that her scenarios are of actual use here, having solved seven different issues.

Lyra also tells you about her alien scenarios, and how she's had dreams of them most of her life. It would have been hard to believe, if it wasn't for the fact that you were now in a magical world that could make it possible. You found it hilarious that she dreamt of so many things you actually recognized as part of your people's culture, from things like Star Wars to Pokémon. What the hell has this mare been dreaming of?

But taking into consideration that she had dreams about humans… Would that mean that these worlds are actually real? It's admittedly exciting to think that they are. When you tell her your thoughts, Lyra gets really excited.

"So you're saying there might be other universes with other beings?!"

"…Have you already gotten bored of little ol' me and want a new alien to play with?" you tease.

"What? N-no! I would never do something as insensitive as that, Anon!" Lyra cries out, looking very upset.

Okay, so it's definitely not a good time to tease her. She probably remembers last night's conversation and thinks you're referencing that. Scooting your chair over beside her, you wrap an arm around her and give her a small hug.

"I was just teasing you, Lyra. Okay?"

"…Oh."

You can feel Lyra lying her head down on your side. Reaching your other arm over, you tousle her mane and incite a giggle from her. And that's the scene that Bon Bon sees when she came into the kitchen. She harrumphes at the two of you, making Lyra jump. Lyra immediately shoves you away with her magic, sending you back into your horribly tiny chair and onto the floor.

"M-morning Bon Bon! Did you sleep well?"

_Yeah, not like I'm hurt or anything_, you think to yourself. Picking yourself off the ground, you move the chair back to where your meal is.

"So, how long have you two been up?" Bonnie asks, still staring at Lyra.

"For a while now. We've been talking about… him being here and my job."

Bonnie raises an eyebrow hearing that before turning to you. "And you're not upset?"

You shrug at her. "Better than taken back to lab and kept there," you answer in a sluggish pace.

Note to self, practice speaking in the mirror so you can stop sounding like an idiot. Bon Bon takes a seat on the opposite side of Lyra where her plate of food is. Lyra's good at keeping things warm with her magic.

_Maybe I should try and find a way to get microwaves here_, you think. The three of you eat silently to yourselves for the remainder of the meal. Once finished, Lyra levitates the plates over to the sink before looking at Bon Bon with a smile.

"So Bonnie, how's your candy coming along?" Lyra asks.

"Just fine, I suppose. The busiest day of the entire year for candy is coming up next week, so you won't be seeing a whole lot of me for a while."

"That's right! I need to get my costume ready and," Lyra looks at you, looking you up and down to size you up, "get one for Anon as well!"

"And what is happening next week?" you ask.

Lyra blinks at your question before she rubs the back of her head. "I guess I forgot to tell you about our holidays... along with some other things. Next week's Nightmare Night. It's a holiday that specifically has to do with us ponies dressing up and going around… asking for candy."

Lyra looks unsure of what to say next, so she turns to Bon Bon. The pony rolls her eyes before taking over.

"You really need to brush up on your history, Lyra. Now, although it was originally a holiday that was set up for the little foals to learn about our past and about our rulers, it's turned into a festive time where everypony now dresses up for the night and goes around from place to place asking for candy."

You try speaking, but your reply is a bit of a mouthful. Grabbing your bag that's on the table, you pull out your chalkboard and write out what you wanted to say.

**That sounds a lot like a holiday we have called Halloween. It's the same exact thing, but I don't know the origins to our holiday. I'm pretty sure it's not a holiday trying to teach anyone though.**

"Did you dress up during your Hallo-ween?" Lyra asks you with a wide grin.

"When I was young."

"We have SO got to get you in something! I'm thinking maybe a ghost; we have enough sheets! Or how about a paper bag suit?! That would totally look awesome."

"Lyra," Bon Bon speaks up, "we need to get him a job before we plan on anything else at the moment. And don't you remember just _who _might be showing up?"

The unicorn grunts at her friend's response. "And just who's that?"

"If it's going to be a repeat of the previous Nightmare Nights, then Princess Luna might make an appearance."

Lyra blinks at what Bon Bon said before furrowing her brow. "Oh yeah, she'll most likely want to see Anon."

You remember your conversation with Lyra about the princesses. She didn't go into detail, but apparently it was Princess Luna that's most likely giving her trouble. You sigh to yourself, not liking the thought of what meeting her may be like. It was another week and then some before you would meet her. You had time to prepare for your inevitable meet up with her.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Lyra has you go into town for the next few days so the ponies can get to know you better. Now that you know what's at stake, you're more eager to try your best to help her.

The first day mostly involves going to the park, since there's a big gathering there for some reason. Of course, things can't be simple. Flitter and Cloudchaser finds the two of you very soon and decide to tag along.

Lyra has a picnic basket for the day. She plans on having you go to the fields where the ponies might see you in a friendlier light. She only planned for three though, with Bon Bon being the third pony. The two pegasi have to fly off real quick before coming back with their lunch. Lyra was hoping they would've gone away after that. No such luck. Flitter seems to be _very _attached to your arm, with her sister snickering on the side.

Some of the ponies in the field come up to greet you. Derpy's one of those ponies. She decides to crash head first into your chest. She meant to land on the tree that's by you, but her aim's off.

"I am SO sorry! I just don't know what went wrong!"

Everybody excluding you groans at what she said. You decide to ask later why everyone reacted like that. Apparently, she's very accident prone and would often say the exact same thing each time. Derpy was still a neat pony to be around, even if she's somewhat eccentric. Actually, that's not very fair to say. Every single one of these ponies are eccentric. Derpy's just a special kind.

Derpy stays around for a bit, eating some muffins she has stored away inside her mailbag. It seemed unprofessional to you for her to have food inside there. Lyra tells you the ponies are used to some muffin crumbs in their mail or packages. After she eats, the pegasus flies back out to the sky… after burning Cloudchaser's picnic basket.

Just how did she manage to do that? You had a good laugh at it, along with Lyra and Flitter. There were some other ponies that came by to greet you while you ate, which made Lyra happy. After eating, Bon Bon went back to wherever she makes her candies, leaving you and Lyra to walk around the park. Along with the pegasi that were still following you closely, of course.

You're eventually led to another area in the park where there are ponies playing music. You recognize one of them.

"Octavia's playing today?" you ask Lyra.

It certainly sounds very different to what you'd expect her to play. It's much more active. Lyra and the two pegasi snickers at your comment.

"No, that's definitely not Octavia. That's just her biggest fan, Fiddlesticks. She's from the apple family, and she's very obsessed with her. She even dresses just like her during events around Ponyville. She must've found out she came back to town and is performing to try and draw her out."

You don't think that would really work. And didn't Octavia only play the cello? You ask Lyra about that.

"No, Octavia actually plays from the violin family: the viola, violin, cello and double bass. She just prefers the cello most of the time."

Interesting. It speaks of how closely related your music is to theirs. Turning your head to Fiddlesticks, you stand there for a moment to enjoy the music. You really did love listening to music like this. It felt so much better than listening to it on your iPod… which is dead. Maybe you could talk to Lyra about playing some more tonight?

"We should probably go; I don't want her knowing I'm here," Lyra tells you, trying to pull you away from there.

"Why's that?" you question. You want to stay and listen some more.

"Look, Octavia doesn't keep a lot of ponies very close to her and I'm one of those few. I just don't want to be-"

"Hello there, Lyra!" you hear from your side.

Lyra immediately halts, turning to Fiddlesticks. You don't even notice when she stopped playing.

"…Yes?" Lyra questions with a grimace.

"I just noticed you were in the crowd and figured I could come and talk. I mean, you still haven't answered any of my questions!"

Fiddlesticks even sounds like Octavia, but with a slightly southern accent. It was sort of eerie how accurate she's trying to be.

"Look, I'd love to chat and all," Lyra says before moving to your side, "but I'm showing Anonymous here around the place. I can't get held up and all."

"It's nothing huge; I just want to know what _you _know about Octavia. Like her favorite things to play, what she likes to eat, the things that make her tick." Fiddlesticks walks up to you two with a very strange look on her face, which had Lyra chuckling from nervousness. "Maybe some things that I can make her feel… better pleasured?" she asks, licking her lips.

"W-why would I know _that_?!"

Okay, you're officially creeped out now. Looking around for an exit is hard since there are so many ponies here at the park. It should be easy... but they keep jumping around. Why are they standing on top of one another? Looking around, you immediately spot something that can help. You don't want to throw someone under the bus like this, but you didn't want to know what Lyra would do to get away. It would probably be something stupid.

"Look, I see Octavia," you point out to the creepy fan.

Her eyes widen like saucers before looking off where you pointed. She's currently where Fiddlesticks was just playing only moments ago, setting up her instrument with some other ponies. The mare in front of you starts hyperventilating, uncertain of what to do. Before you could do anything, the pony collapses the moment Octavia starts playing her cello. Lyra immediately pulls you away from the vicinity of the mare and towards a lake. You can see some ponies swimming around in it or relaxing in the grass.

"I really didn't expect her to be there today or I'd have made sure Bon Bon was around. She usually has a way to get that creepy mare away."

"Why did she act like that?" you ask.

Lyra rubs her forehead before answering. "When Octavia had just gotten a name for herself a few years back… she made a bad decision of getting to know her fans a little more closely after her concerts. Fiddlesticks was one of those fans."

You did not expect to hear that. So Octavia has a wild side to her, then. The rest of that day consists of the two of you hanging around the lake and talking to all the ponies there. You feel like you made a good impression with them. You even get that Rose pony to stop calling you a monster. Well, most of the time anyways. Now it's just 'sort of not scary monster'. You just wish she'd stop screaming all the time around you.

The next day's just a simple walk around the town so they can get used to you being there. Lyra shoves you out the door as soon as possible. The green unicorn's in a hurry for some reason. She moves you from place to place, eating on the go this time around as she shows you to the ponies.

Most of the stands are setting up for next week's holiday. Lyra's having you try out the different treats they're serving. Right now, she's having you try a smoothie called the 'scary green squid' with little gummy tentacles in it. Thankfully, it's just a tart apple flavor and not, in fact, squid flavored. The tentacles even squirts black ooze that tasted like apple cider.

You get to see Bon Bon with a stand out there as well. She must've worked like crazy for the past two days just to get those candies made up. Looking down, you see some candies you even recognize. There's Mary Jane's, some taffy, and different kinds of lollipops.

"Wow Bonnie, how long did it take you to make these?" Lyra asks.

"Too long. I didn't have enough time to make the squishy beans or the teeth crackers."

"Ah... I really like the crackers! You've still got most of next week to prepare that, right?"

"Yeah, though it's going to be a bit of a stretch making them next week. I'll probably have to hire a unicorn to speed up the process."

Before Lyra can reply to Bon Bon, a flash of light pops out of nowhere in front of you. Standing there was Twilight, and she does not look happy.

"LYRA!" Twilight screams at her. "You were supposed to let me talk to Anon here before you left off for the day!"

"…Oh yeah, I totally forgot that," Lyra says, lying through her teeth. These ponies are _not _very good liars.

"I have every right to talk to him, as the princess stated in her letter. Now hurry up with whatever you were doing so I can do this! So many things I had planned had to be scrapped or moved to another time!"

"I was _going _to have him try out some of our local treats and show him to the school later on before I headed back home."

"I'm going to stick around to make sure you don't get sidetracked," Twilight says before walking beside you.

And now you know what Lyra has planned for today. She really needs to tell you what she's going to have you doing before they happen. After parting from Bon Bon, Lyra moves you about in a more hurried pace with Twilight bugging her. Each time you try something at a stand, Lyra wants you to comment on how it was. Mostly, you tell her how it compares to some of the candies back home… or how weird some of them are.

The next stand, though…

"Lyra, I'm not… what?"

You aren't sure of what to say to this. Pinkie, for some god awful reason, convinced a local unicorn to animate some treats she made. She got a stand out here so she could sell the animated treats. Lyra's trying to make you eat a gingerbread pony right now.

"Come on, take a bite!" Lyra urges you.

"Yeah, take a bite!" the gingerbread pony says to you, making you jump. "I'm sweet and delicious and totally worth it!"

Pinkie continues to stare at you with a wide smile as Twilight stands there, becoming very impatient.

"Just eat the darn thing so we can move on already," Twilight says grumpily.

Picking up the talking treat, it lets out a giggle. "That tickles!" it says as you slowly open your mouth and take a bite out of it.

"Ooh, you went for my behind! Oh yeah, chew me up real nice and good. You don't know how _good _this feels with your tongue sliding up against my bits! More, chew me some more!"

Everyone stares at the gingerbread pony who is getting more detailed overtime in how you're chewing it. You feel yourself pale a little as the confectionary urges you to take another bite of it.

"Hehehehe…" Pinkie nervously chuckles out. "I guess I better mark that one for adults only then…"

You place the cookie down and slowly walk away. The horrid little treat starts yelling at you to come back and finish it off. You ignore it.

Lyra and Twilight eventually leads you to a schoolhouse for the younger ponies. It's pretty small, though.

"Okay, I already talked to Cheerilee and she's going to introduce you to the class today, though we're a bit early. You just have to answer a few questions and then we're done here."

"Good," Twilight remarks, "I want to get back as soon as possible."

You wait outside with Twilight as Lyra goes in and talks to whoever this Cheerilee is. She comes back out and led you inside where you see desks full of little ponies sitting down. You spot the little crusaders in the classroom who wave at you. Many of the other little ponies gasp and make noises as they saw you. _They must not have seen me out in town_, you think. Lyra leads you to a pony that's standing in front of the classroom.

"Class," Cheerilee speaks out, "today I have a very special guest so treat…" The teacher pony quickly whispers to Lyra, who deadpans at her before whispering back. "…_Him_ with respect, okay?" And now you deadpan at her, which makes the class erupt into giggles.

"This is a being from another world, or an alien." The class ooh's and aah's at that.

Cheerilee urges you forward to present yourself. You look at Lyra and point to your mouth, which she nods at.

"Just so everypony knows, he has a difficult time speaking since Equestrian is not his basic language and he is still in the process of learning," Lyra says to the class.

Twilight's now beside you on your other side with a pen and pad. She probably wants to write down what you'll be saying. You introduce yourself and start saying some basic facts on humans you already told Lyra. After this, you answer a few questions to the class. They're surprisingly very well behaved. You'd imagine the kids back home would've been extremely rude if an alien walked in.

"But, how are you supposed to do anything without magic?" a unicorn asks. "I, uh…" many of the non-unicorns look at her with slight glares. "What I mean is that a good chunk of what we have is either magic or black rock powered. How are you able to do anything without magic?"

Black rocks? Taking a moment, you realize that must be what they call coal.

"We use electricity," you answer. You see many questioning stares, and a very hard look at Twilight who was waiting for you to continue. "You call it lightning. We use lightning and make it work to do many things."

God you fucking hate how thick your tongue feels talking in this language. You _really _need to practice more later on when you got the chance.

"And just how is _lightning _supposed to do anything at all?" a pony with a tiara asks.

You look over at Lyra, who understands what it can do. Vinyl's the perfect example of what possible with it. The pony who asked the question didn't look very impressed with you. In fact, she didn't seem impressed at whatever you said. So how should you go about this?

…

"We humans have taken lightning and made it work many things. With it, we have achieved great things. Humans have been to bottom of sea, built great buildings that could reach Cloudsdale, and even went to the moon with it."

That last one seems to have gotten everyone's attention. You feel like you're doing a great job impressing the class.

"There are objects that allow us to talk to someone on other side of world instantly. And there are many, MANY tools and objects that make life simpler and even more fun."

You tell them about a few of the objects, though you have to use easy words to describe what they can do. Twilight's scribbling away at everything you say, slipping in a question or two whenever she can. Lyra also joins in this, grabbing the teacher's papers and pens. By the time you left, many of them are stunned by some of the things you mention. Of course, that tiara one stutters out how they can't be real, but you have both Twilight and Lyra to back you up.

By the time you got back to Lyra's, the town's starting to get dark. You would've gotten back earlier, but Lyra has to stop for and hit up the stands one last time before you head back. Right now, you're sitting at the table with Twilight, answering a few questions about your home.

"So you're telling me that anypony could fly to any destination that they wanted?" Twilight asks you.

"Yes, as long as they had the money to do so."

Lyra comes up suddenly, placing a kettle and some cups on the table before serving them out. She quickly takes a seat next to you before taking a sip of her own tea.

"So Anon," says Lyra, "are you excited about tomorrow?"

What does she have planned for tomorrow, again?

"Lyra, did you find out what he could probably work out in town, like where his talents would be put to use?"

That's right; Lyra's going to walk out in town with you to look for a job.

"I may have forgotten about asking him…"

Twilight slaps a hoof to her face before grabbing a new stack of papers.

"Anon, you've told us about these things you have back home. Does your special talent work with these products?"

"No. Sometimes I use them to help with my job."

"Hmm… did you work with creating these objects? I bet I could get you set up with making some of them here."

You shake your head no.

"I used them, not make them."

Twilight hums to herself once more before asking you again about trying to make them, but in a different manner. She keeps at this for a while until Lyra gets sick of it.

"Twilight, it's obvious he doesn't know how to make them so stop bugging Anon about this!"

"But he's already admitted that he would know the basic materials to some of these things and-"

"It doesn't matter if he can't recreate them! You're not even asking him specifically _what _his job was!"

Twilight blinks before looking at you once again.

"Anon, what exactly _did _you do back on your home planet?"

You feel this might take a bit in explaining soon, so you grab your chalkboard and write down what you want to say.

**I was an environmentalist back home.**

The two ponies read that, look at one another, then back to you.

"What's an environmentalist?" Lyra asks with a tilt of her head.

Well that fucking figures. Of _course _they wouldn't know what that is; their world's clean from pollutants and anything that could harm the natural world. You start to explain what it was you did, and some of the science behind it. Twilight and Lyra scribble down anything you had to say. You even admit to being slightly jealous of the ponies. They live _with _nature, not against it. You wish your species would follow their example.

"So pretty much, you went around the place and tried to convince others that what they were doing was hurting the world?" Twilight asked.

**Yes. It was difficult, but we made progress. Many of the world leaders were actively backing us up by the time I got transported here.**

That makes you disappointed, not being able to see how that meeting had turned out. You really hope everything went according to plan.

"Anon, what you did sounds really important and a really great job for your people…"

You feel the unsaid 'but'.

"We ponies don't have those types of problems," Lyra speaks out. "And when we do, it can normally be solved with either magic or some simple work."

And now you have no idea what to do. It's a great thing that they didn't have a need for environmentalists since their world's practically perfect, but it still leaves you out of a job.

"Um… maybe we can figure out a new job for you?" Lyra asks with a smile.

You turn to her, trying to find the best words to say.

"Lyra, my skills are very specific. I am not sure what I can do now."

Sure, you could probably do plenty of things like teaching or maybe some other things because of your knowledge. But from the looks of things, some of what you know might very well go over their heads. The two ponies sit in thought after what you said. Lyra begins writing something on her pad. Looking over, you make out that it was a list of some type.

"Okay, so we just need to find you a new job, then!" said Lyra. "You should be able to do _something _on this list, right?"

Taking the list, you read over some of the things she wrote down. There's farmhand, shopkeeper, masseuse, food maker, inventor, and many other things on this list.

"…It'll have to do, I suppose."

It's not like you had much of a say in this. You need to support yourself eventually, and a job is a must… no matter what the job may be. And if you don't like your job, you can always look for another one later on.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Lyra's POV~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

For the rest of the night, you and Twilight talk to Anon about the different jobs he can try out in town. You have some neat ideas, but Anon's skeptical about some of them. With Twilight's help, you create a list of professions that can suit Anon perfectly out in town. When Bonnie comes back later that night, you tell her what you were going to do and invite her to tag along with you in the morning.

…Okay, you may have bugged her into coming, but you really want her to become better friends with him. That and she might have an easier time convincing some of the ponies into allowing Anon a chance, since she works out in town herself.

You have to provide help with making the candies sometime this week for the day she'll be gone, but you feel it's totally worth it. And best of all, Twilight's not coming! She says that she'll be staying at her library and going over the notes she has on Anon, probably seeing if it's possible to replicate his worlds stuff with magic.

The next day, you pack up a quick meal to eat on the go in the morning. You're in a hurry since one of the job places starts early and you want to show he can arrive just as early.

"Anon, hurry up!" you whine. You feel whinings okay right now since you're in a hurry. "We have to leave before they start the day!"

"Alright, Lyra!" he grumbles out, walking into the kitchen.

You quickly grab your bag and levitate your food out the door. Bon Bon's going to meet you in town in case this first job doesn't work out. You make for a fast pace down to Applejack's farm. Not that you're going to get Anon a job there. No, the carrot farm seems like a better place for him. His hands are _perfect _to gathering all those carrots from the ground. That, and both you and Carrot Top have a great understanding of one another.

It doesn't take long to get to the apple family farm. You can already see Applejack and Big Mac bucking apples. Once Applejack notices you, she stops what she's doing and walks over to you.

"Well howdy there, Lyra," Applejack greets, nodding a head at you. "What's got ya' comin' out here this early in the day?"

"Just heading to Carrot Top's farm to ask her some questions."

Applejack flinches when you say that. You wonder what's up with that. They're cousins, and they don't have any problems with one another as far as you knew.

"I reckon I best come alon' with ya' up there. Just to make sure nothin' goes wrong."

That confuses you, but you follow behind Applejack anyways. Just as you're about to head up the road to the carrot farm, Applejack tries and forces you into the bucking forest! What the hay?!

"Applejack, what are you trying to do?!"

"I just feel like takin' a stroll through the Everfree, don't ya' want to come alon'?"

"No, Applejack. I don't want to meet anymore timberwolves anytime soon! So stop trying to get us off the road an-"

Thump!

You feel something hit your head, making you wobble around on the ground. Shaking your head from the dizziness, you look at what hit you.

It's an apple. Just who the buck threw that at you?! Looking around from where it came from, you see a very familiar sight…

"I thought Twilight was supposed to get rid of that thing!" you yell out.

"And she said she couldn't because she'd feel bad for destroyin' a sentient being like that!"

You really didn't want to deal with Twilight's past screw ups today! The three of you continue walking down the road since you didn't want to take who knows how long the other way. All the while, trying to avoid the apples being thrown at you. Stupid Twilight… Stupid tree…

"I said that you _must _praise the sun for its glorious luminosity that it descends unto us!" There's another apple lobbed at you. "Do you not feel the basking glow of the light dance upon you beings?" A few more aimed at you. "A glow that allows your bodies to grow in its ever candescent aura of power?!" And another one directed at Applejack.

"Make a run for it!" Applejack screams out as the stupid tree starts to chuck apples at you continuously.

By the time you get to Carrot Top's carrot farm, you feel battered and bruised from all the apples. You have to pull off one on your horn, which makes you shudder. Spotting Carrot Top, you immediately walk up to her so you can get this over with.

"Well hey there, Lyra. I haven't seen you in a while!" Carrot Top says to you in her very feminine voice. Oh what you would do for a voice like hers!

The perfect amount of sexy and country rolled into one package. At least you have better ears than any other pony you know. And a terrific looking tail, too. Ah buck it, you have awesome all over you! ...Now if you can only get that voice.

She looks back and forth before moving in close to you. "Has that varmint been giving you any trouble recently?" You grin at that.

"Nope, the last time I saw that little annoyance he wound up tied to a tree. I haven't seen him in a while. Hopefully he learned his lesson."

Carrot Top chuckles at that before patting your shoulder. You make sure to scare the stupid bunny _real _good after the last time.

"Well, I reckon that rope I lent you went to good use. So, what you up here for then? I highly doubt you'll find any aliens up here to add to your collection."

You give a playful glare at Carrot Top, making her chuckle.

"I'm trying to get my good friend Anon here a job and I thought with his hands, he'd have an easy time grabbing these carrots of yours."

"Well that sounds mighty fine of you making sure your friends all set up and taken care of like this." She looks behind you for a second before turning back to you. "So where is the he?"

"He's right…"

You look behind you and only see Applejack standing there. Where's Anon? You take a moment to think to yourself, trying to place where he might be. Back at the tree? The apple farm?

…

"I FORGOT ANON!"

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~One Hour Before~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Hello?"

You're currently standing outside, looking around for Lyra. Last night, you decide to make some resumés like back home. You're surprised to hear that these ponies don't have resumés, so you feel making some up will give you an upper hand. You seem to have misplaced them, which is why you're getting yelled at by Lyra to hurry up. Looking around once more, you figure they already went on ahead.

You feel that's a bit rude of them. It's not like they can get you a job without you being there, right? …Or maybe they can?

You might as well head into town, where Lyra most likely went. You wish she said something about where the first place would be. Walking towards town, you take out the list that she gave you last night. You should probably first try out the vending stalls around town. It doesn't take long to ask all the vendors there, ignoring Pinkie's stall entirely.

"Sorry, but I don't really need any help working my stall," the vending ponies tell you.

They were all like that, but you figured it would turn out like this. Looking at your list, you immediately cross off 'stalls' on it.

You already asked Bon Bon last night about working with her, but she doesn't need any more help with selling things. Lyra bugged her for a good while, but Bon Bon wouldn't budge. Looking over your sheet, you take a look at what you can consider trying next. Skimming over the paper, 'working at Sugarcube Corner' is next on the list. Turning to where Pinkie's stand is at, you see her waving at you in an energetic fashion. You see a screaming cookie by her, yelling for you to come over. You smile at her, waving back.

Yeah… that's being crossed off. You like her and all, but you can't take having that much energy around for too long. Plus… Pinkie sort of scares you. You get that there's magic in this world that can do things you didn't think were possible, but she broke so many basic laws of physics you'd think she was part god.

Going over your list once more, you try to figure out where to go next. There's Rarity's boutique, but you're not sure if you want to make clothing for a living. And the Quills and Sofas store definitely won't hire you. They're most likely still upset with you. You have no idea where the other shops on the list are. Yes, Lyra _did _show you to most of these shops, but you didn't pay attention to where you were going.

Picking a random store nearby, you step inside… before running back out. That was the Sofas and Quills shop. They definitely don't want you there. Looking at the building, you see a sign with a quill and a sofa on it… You should've paid more attention to where you were going. You shrug to yourself at that. They'll eventually get over it.

Picking another building at random, you try your luck once more. With each building, you cross another thing off the list. The café won't hire you since you're too big and you were constantly tripping all over everything inside. The costume shop couldn't hire you since there's a dress code of wearing a different costume every day, and that would be too expensive for them. The flower shop _definitely _didn't want you. That's where Rose works, along with her two sisters. She started screaming at you until you left the shop.

Right now, you just got rejected for your eighth time, this one from a book store. You were really hoping for that one; you love to read. You're also surprised you haven't seen Lyra yet. Just where is she, anyways?

You also notice you're being followed like the first day you were out. You're not exactly certain how the other ponies don't notice them. It might have been possible they were just ponies trying to get a look at you, but keeping their distance. That's the only reason you haven't done anything about it yet.

Walking into another random building, you immediately recognize it as the day spa. You sigh to yourself before taking your list out. _There's no way they'd hire me_, you think. Just as you were crossing the name out, someone calls out to you.

"Yes, welcome to the day spa. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Oh, it was one of the ponies that works here. You briefly met them but never got a chance to talk to the two ponies here. Lyra was busy trying to show you around too quickly that day. Well, you may as well give this a chance.

"Yes, I am looking for a job. Do you have a position?"

The pony walks out from behind her counter before walking up to you. She lets out a hum before inspecting you.

"You have an interesting accent. Customers like that; they feel it is very exotic, very unique. It helps business, you see."

Okay, off to a good start. She also has an accent, so maybe she's relating to you? You're hoping you find something here; you're tired of looking around. If anything, maybe you could try working behind the counter? Or maybe cleaning around the place?

"Your… what are these?" the pony asks, pointing at your hands.

"They are hands, see?" you reply, taking your hands out for her.

You give the fingers a quick wiggling, forcing the pony to widen her eyes.

"My, my! They are very dexterous, yes?" The spa pony pauses for a moment, staring at your hands. "They remind me of a minotaur, but with an extra digit. That is very special. Maybe with some training, we can put those to good use." She directs you to the back of the room, where you see an identical looking pony was currently cleaning. "I just realized I have not introduced myself. I am Lotus and this is my sister, Aloe."

"Hello there," Aloe greets to you.

Lotus walks over to Aloe before the two of them start talking to one another in whispers. She keeps making gestures over to you with Aloe staring at your hands. They both nod to one another before coming back over to you. They immediately bring you over to a flat table while grabbing some books.

"Our unthoughtful little sister Vera decided she wanted a different lifestyle, so she quit and went to work at a hair salon," Lotus said. "We were just looking for a replacement."

"The two of us are looking for something special, possibly with digits," Aloe says while waving a hoof to one of your hands and rubbing it. "It is so much smoother than any other being I can think of. These may do wonders on our customers"

"We are thinking of having you massage. But first, we must see if you can learn," Lotus tells you as she sits you down on the floor with them.

They keep you back there for a while, giving you basic teachings in massaging. They even use a pony dummy where they show you how to do a few different massages. They seem very eager to have you around. You aren't exactly sure if you feel comfortable doing this, but you'll give it a shot in the very least.

The two spa ponies show you the differences between their hooves and your hands, and how you should be able to provide more accurate pressure in areas they could not. They gave you some tips, such as how much pressure to apply, the best places to massage a pony, and which areas are used for the best results on different kinds of ponies.

"Do not worry. We will be there to make sure you do a fantastic job," Lotus says with a smile.

"And to help with that," Aloe says with a matching smile, "we will have a volunteer for you."

You hear a ding coming from the entrance to the spa.

"Ah, we may have one for you right now!"

WHOA THERE! You are NOT cool with them doing this so quickly! Before you can even protest, Aloe walks out of the room to who the fuck knows where.

"I can see you are very nervous, Anon," Lotus says, "but I am certain you will be perfect for this."

The positive side of this, you may have a job afterwards. The negative, you may fuck a pony up doing this. Aloe comes back with a very familiar pony you _definitely _didn't want to see here.

"Why Anon, what a surprise to see you here," Rarity speaks in surprise.

You're screaming in your head at that moment, asking why you are in this situation. And where the fuck is Lyra?!

"That is who you are volunteering for," Lotus says. Rarity got very uncomfortable hearing that. See, even she knew this was a stupid idea!

"Lotus… Aloe… I'm not exactly certain this is such a good idea."

"But Rarity," speaks Aloe, "you said you would help us with our problem here. Anon desperately needs help if we are to get him to work here. Can't your _generosity _extend to him?"

Rarity freezes at those words, staring off into nothing. She slowly turns to you, clenching her teeth together.

"I… suppose I can help…" she forces out before being led onto the table.

Lotus leads you over to Rarity, who looks very nervous. It's very… strange seeing a pony lie down like a human.

"Now, do as we precisely say, okay?" Lotus orders as she and her sister stands on the side, watching your actions carefully. "And don't forget what we just taught you."

You may be a somewhat fast learner, but this is a bit much on your first day! Looking down at Rarity, you see she's having a hard time relaxing. Okay… so what first?

…Right, cleanliness. After cleaning your hands, you dry them off. Lotus points to the oils, reminding you that's next.

"Rarity, what oil would you like?" you ask, walking over to the shelf.

"…I like the jasmine oil Lotus used last week," she answers.

Grabbing the bottle, you bring it over to the little table that was sitting beside the massage table. You squirt some into your hands before swirling it around, heating your hands up.

"Is there any place you would like me to start?" you ask as you stare down at her.

"Just a simple massage will be fine, Anon."

_She probably wants to get this done and over with_, you think. Standing over Rarity's head, you make sure to remember what the two spa ponies told you.

Lotus and Aloe guide you over what's needed for the massage and how to soothe Rarity out in different areas. They also went over how to knead her body, how much pressure's needed, what areas you should pay more attention to, or even places to help relieve stress.

With Aloe's help, you identify that Rarity has some built up stress around her shoulders. They comment on how it's most likely from her long hours of making clothing. The entire time, Rarity's very cooperative. Amazingly so, in fact; she seems to be enjoying this more and more with every minute.

You're not sure how long you've been in here. You were too absorbed into your work to really notice; you didn't want to fuck this up. You felt confident enough to try asking questions while massaging.

"You do face massages?"

"Yes, though they are very difficult to pull off with our hooves," Lotus says. You can see her staring at her hoof on the side with a pout before looking back at you. "That's another reason why we would love to have you here."

"And what about the wings of a pony?" you question. "You didn't say anything about those."

"Pegasi, and other beings with wings like the griffins; they do not like their wings being touched unless they feel comfortable with it."

"It is why I could not get Fluttershy," Aloe chips in. "I had to give Rarity a free massage to volunteer."

And now you know why Rarity volunteered for this. From the occasional moan that Rarity utters out, you feel she's happy with her choice. Of course, this whole thing's most likely a fluke that you're doing things right in the beginning. Staring down at Rarity, another question pops up.

"What about the horn?" you ask, pointing at Rarity's horn.

"We are unsure of how to apply a massage there," Lotus said. "We occasionally give horn manicures, but that is all. Our hooves cannot grip the horn or relieve it of any stress."

Well, you're interested in seeing if a horn can receive a massage. Maybe you can use what you learn here on Lyra later on if she gets stressed.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

You are currently lying on the ground in a daze. You're not hurt, just somewhat bewildered at the moment. Rarity blasted you with a spray of magic, resulting in your current confusion. She must have used a spell to make you confused. What exactly happened?

"Oh my!" you hear Lotus say. "That was completely unexpected!"

"Sister, we could make this an extra special charge on his massages!" you hear from Aloe who is now standing above you. "We should get him some gear to reflect magical effects if it happens again."

You hear Rarity moaning on the table. Why is she making those sounds? Why are you on the ground again?

"We will have to provide baths to these special massages, Aloe. I shall run one for Rarity here, free of charge of course."

"Do not forget to check up on Fluttershy from her seaweed wrap."

You sit up, trying to clear your head so you can properly think. You see Lotus quickly scooping up Rarity on her back before leaving the room.

"Did I do good?" you ask about your massage.

"Anon, you did wonderfully! I expect to see you back here tomorrow for more work!"

Alright, you now have a job! Aloe told you the basics of what to expect working here: you get paid at the end of every week, to keep clean and tidy, the work hours, and a few other things. You ask for some books so you can study back at Lyra's. Aloe seems very impressed at your willingness to do better.

Leaving the day spa, you walk back to Lyra's place hoping she was there. Walking inside the house, you close the door before getting slammed in the gut. You fall to the ground with Lyra on top of you as she holds you in a tight hug.

"WHERE WERE YOU?!" she cries out.

You find it difficult to say anything at the moment with the air knocked out of you. Lyra continues to hold you there on the ground, hugging you tightly while squishing her face into your chest. Once you feel well enough to move, you slide yourself up so you're sitting. Lyra doesn't let go.

So you force yourself to stand up, hoping she would let go then. Nope, now she's holding on to you tighter, dangling from your waist. You walk to the couch and take a seat on it. You peel Lyra off of you and place her beside you before taking your bag off.

"Where were you?!" Lyra repeats, "I couldn't find you anywhere, and Bon Bon said she hadn't seen you, so she and Applejack had me stay here in case you came back!"

"I walked outside in the morning and saw no one, so I went to town to look for work. I thought you would be there."

"Oh, I… well buck."

Lyra sits there, red in the face from embarrassment.

…

Lyra jumps at you, grabbing you once more in a hug. Now she's continuously apologizing for leaving you behind. You pull Lyra off of you once more before sitting her back beside you.

"So… did you find any work in town?" Lyra asks.

"I went to all the stalls and no one was hiring. I had to go to eight different places before I found work."

"Really?!" She jumps into your lap. "Who're you going to work for now?!"

"I start tomorrow at the day spa."

"You work there?!" Lyra asks. "But, they only hire the best they can find!"

_Or if that someone they're hiring have finger__s, _you think. You smile down at her before you tell Lyra how your day at the spa went. She seems interested to hearing everything you said.

"Um… Anon… would you mind giving me a massage? I um, well I could help you with learning," she says with a blush.

Lyra _does _look pretty stressed out right now; maybe you can help with that. And you could use the extra training for work.

"Sure," you answer with a nod. "I even learned a new thing with massaging horns."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Canterlot~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

You are currently inside your sister's study room, looking over some documents. Celestia had to attend a guard meeting, but she let you in anyways. You told her that you needed to look over your night guard's papers alone in a private manner. You're not sure… but you felt you were being watched by your own guards.

Not that they couldn't be trusted, but why take the chance? You had just gotten done with looking at another list of guards that you employed into the night guard. You're being careful, much more than your sister is currently being. You made sure to keep your most trusted guards hidden in the background around your lands in areas that would be the most beneficial to you.

You started this years ago, but only recently have you made a stronger effort to coordinate your guard. And it seems to have done well. You got word that some of these resistance ponies on both sides were starting to appear in Ponyville. They haven't done anything yet, but you had your worries that they'd try something with the elements.

Hmm… note to self, try and find a name to identify these ponies with. Thinking about Ponyville, you recall a certain mare that you are definitely going to see next week. You might be able to go there and find something to help your sister with this 'alien' there. It's too bad you're forbidden by Celestia to make any contact in the 'scenario' without a proper reason.

…

But you were going to Ponyville anyways for Nightmare Night this year. Who's to say you don't accidentally bump into them during your time there?

~End Chapter Nine~


	11. Chapter Ten - It's A Triangle Of Sorts

You are very pissed off right now. Why? You are currently sitting on the couch being bandaged up by Bon Bon after Lyra's explosive magic slammed into you! You put nearly all the blame on those fucking spa ponies, Lotus and Aloe. How were you supposed to know that massaging a unicorn's horn would produce _that_ effect on them?!

It started out simple enough. You were rubbing Lyra's shoulders and some other places, practicing on her. She told you when it hurt or when it felt good. Sadly, it looks like your massage with Rarity was either a fluke or you really needed those spa ponies for direction.

Lyra had to stop you a few times before you were more tolerable. But Lyra never got angry if you messed up, even if it hurt her. You wanted to do a better job with this, hoping to improve even if… this is what you were going to do from now on. You're hoping to find better work at some point down the road.

Of course, just like with Rarity, you went ahead with that horn massage.

As before, you made sure to pay attention to the grooves in the horn, making sure everything was paid attention to. And like before, you felt your hands heating up. You thought it was friction the last time with Rarity, but now you were certain what it was. It's a spell that's about to be discharged. You recall something like this happening a while back with Twilight, now that you think about it. Is that why she broke your nose?

You're not completely certain, but you do know that this could've been avoided if the spa ponies had told you what had happened before. Lyra was in a complete stupor the entire time you were… massaging her horn. She told you afterwards that she wasn't able to tell you to stop. Lyra also told you what you did was something she did not expect to happen. Apparently, unicorn horns aren't exactly sensitive unless they're…

Let's just say that Lyra got really in depth with what she said, and you felt very uncomfortable the entire time. She explained that you were probably the only species capable of doing something like that without getting into the actual act of… what she said. Well, a minotaur _might_ be able to, but only if they shave their hands from all the hair that's on them and grease them up.

It still remained that Lyra, more or less… got off from it and it hit you directly as a result. You're going to talk to those spa ponies about this, that's for damn sure.

"There," Bon Bon announces, ripping a line of bandages from your head, "you're all wound up now. Thankfully it's nothing but a scrape on your head. It should be fine in the morning."

You continue staring down at the ground, feeling very ashamed of your actions. Good god, you fucking molested your watcher for fuck's sake!

"I-it's not like you knew what you were doing, Anon," you hear Lyra quietly say to you from a chair seated across from you.

"Well, at least now we know why Lotus and Aloe wanted him to work there," Bon Bon says, taking a seat by Lyra in another chair.

You place your face into the palm of your hands, groaning to yourself at the implications of what Bon Bon just said.

"Bonnie, stop making things worse than they already are!"

"Well it's true!"

They bicker back and forth while you sat there and listened. You were too lost in thought from what you did only moments ago. Feeling a nudge, you see Lyra was poking you with magic from her seat, trying to get your attention.

"Are you alright?" she asks you.

Wiping your hair back, you sit up and give her a nod. You really need to get a haircut; it's getting fairly long. You wonder how these ponies keep theirs so short all the time.

"You look like you need some cheering up, Anon!" Lyra says, trying to cheer you up. "Maybe we can do something fun later?"

Lyra starts talking to herself, listing off different things that the two of you could do. You sat there and watched her say one thing, then cross it off as if she wrote it in the air. Looking at Bon Bon, you see she's staring at Lyra listing off activities. When she noticed you were watching her, Bon Bon scrunches her face up before looking away. You just try to ignore it, as usual. You really wish she'd stop acting so rude towards you…

"Oh, what about after Nightmare Night?! We're supposed to be stargazing that night and I'm certain that you'd fit up on the roof with both of us!"

Bon Bon immediately chokes loudly, forcing the two of you to turn to her. You see she's smacking her chest for some reason.

"S-sorry, just had a nasty cough right there."

Lyra accepts it and moves on with listing more things to do, but you're not so convinced. Lyra seems to have decided on the roof thing without asking you about it. Bon Bon stares down at the floor now instead of at Lyra as she continues to talk.

"Maybe we can still get you a different job?" Lyra asks you, getting back on topic finally. "I know that Carrot Top is willing to hire you, and she can pay you around sixty bits a week."

That doesn't seem bad.

"I'd lose a little cash from that, but maybe I can do that instead."

Bon Bon twitches her ears hearing that before lifting her head at you.

"Just how much is Lotus and Aloe saying they'd pay you, Anon? Sixty bits a week is pretty good money for just some physical work."

"Um… they said a hundred and twenty-five bits a week, not including tips," you reply.

Both Lyra and Bon Bon drop their jaws, staring at you with incredulous looks.

"Are you serious?!" Lyra squeaks out. "T-that's even more than what the princess pays me!"

You're not really sure how their currency system really works, since it's so alien from your own back home. You _do_ know that Lyra and Bon Bon really need this cash. You ate more than them and most likely took up other expenses they're paying for.

…

"It's okay, I can keep working there."

"Anon… are you sure?" Lyra asks you in a worried tone.

"Yes Lyra, it's fine. Maybe I can find a job later on, but this pays a lot of cash. I want to help provide here."

Lyra shakes her head before staring straight at you. "Anon, I don't want you working there if it's making you uncomfortable or they're making you… do things out of your comfort zone."

You can't help at smiling with how Lyra's trying to look out for you. But no, you needed the money for this so you can repay them properly.

"Lyra, I can work there. It's fine."

Lyra looks at you, uncertain at your words. She narrows her eyes before nodding, most likely to herself. Ah crap, she looks like she's about to do something stupid. Before you can try and talk to her, she immediately gets up and quickly runs out of the house. That leaves you alone with Bon Bon. You share a look before she turns her stare down at her hooves, playing with the bandages she's holding.

"I guess I should… get ready for tomorrow," she says, getting up from her chair. "I have a lot of candy to make."

Before she can make her way past, you stand up and block her.

"Bon Bon… we need to talk."

She quickly furrows her brow, looking at you. You point at the couch, motioning her to take a seat. She grunts at you before taking a seat on the couch. You take a seat beside her, getting as comfortable as you can for this. This was the perfect time to get this out of the way. You've been meaning to talk to her alone for a while now.

"So," Bon Bon says in a grumpy tone, "what did you want to talk about?"

"It's about Lyra," you answer, watching her roll her eyes.

"Anonymous, I know she can get a bit strange. But she's a good mare, and any pony that gets the chance to know her can see that."

You shake your head at that. That's not what you wanted to talk about. Yes, she can get a bit worked up now and then, but it's not too much of a bother.

"Is it about the massage?" she questions.

You shake your head once more. Now she looks very confused, probably trying to figure out what you wanted to ask.

"Bon Bon… you don't like me… do you?"

She stares at you with wide eyes, her mouth hanging open, trying to find something to say.

"W-w-what do you mean by that?!"

You let out a sigh.

"I've noticed some things about you. You'd glare at me, or do your best to stay away. You don't like to talk to me at all. You don't even refer to me as a person, but as an 'it' still. I just want to talk to you, maybe find something to help with your dislike of me."

Bon Bon looks away from you, looking ashamed at her actions. She plays with the bandages once more, trying to find something to say.

"I… it's not that I hate you, or dislike you or nothing. It's… it's just complicated, that's all."

Shaking your head, you take the bandages from her hooves and place them on the table in front of you.

"Then help me find a way to make this less complicated than it has to be."

"It's not like I can talk to you about this. It's just really hard, okay?" She looks down at her hooves, still not looking at you. "I really don't want to talk about this."

"Bon Bon, I want us to be friends. It's hard to be here and have you acting like this to me."

Placing your hand on one of her shoulders, she immediately slaps it away with her hoof. You're not too bothered about that.

"There's also Lyra to consider." She freezes, hearing that. "She's talked to me about this, wondering if I've noticed anything wrong going on with you, or talking to me about trying to get to know you better. She asked me to talk to you, maybe find a way to bridge this gap between us."

"So, you're only doing this because of Lyra?" she asks softly.

"No, Bon Bon. I'm doing this so we can finally get to know one another."

"Well I don't want to do this right now, "Bon Bon grumbles, as if she's complaining to you. "I've got better things to do tha-"

"Bon Bon!" you say her name roughly, making her stop from jumping off the couch.

You've never raised your voice to her or Lyra during your time with them. You didn't want to, but she's making you upset right now.

"This isn't about only _your_ wants Bon Bon. Whether you or I like it or not, I'm stuck living with you!"

She keeps her head turned away with an angered expression on her face. That just makes you angrier.

"You have to think of others besides yourself. I know, this is your home and I shouldn't really be speaking to you about this. But I have little to no say in much of what happens here, and it just plain fucking sucks that I have to be around here with you not caring about me at all!"

She flinches at your last word with how roughly you said it. Of course, it could also be your heavy accent that's making it sound like you were growling at her. Okay, you need to cool down. This is not how you talk to people, you should remember that. Just… calm down; you want to talk to her, not fight with her.

"Look, Lyra may have been the one to ask me to talk to you, but I've been meaning to do this for a while anyways. Can't you see you're also upsetting her with your actions?"

"W-what?! MY actions?"

"Yes… your actions. If you haven't noticed, which to me it sounds like you haven't, Lyra's been trying to get the three of us to do things together. But each and every single time, her attempts are wasted around with you not wanting to be a part of them."

At least Bon Bon doesn't seem angry anymore. It looks like she's finally listening.

"You've only been around the absolute minimum that you can, and that's only to help her with her work or to do things with her. But, once again, she's been trying to get the three of us to do stuff together."

She's shuffling about on the couch now; she looks like a child being talked down to.

"And since you don't want to do anything with her when I'm included in them… she's stopped including you into most of the activities she's done."

You pause for a moment, letting that sink in for Bon Bon.

"The most you've done is helping me to speak or learn things, and when that's done you leave. If you had stayed around, you could've been a part of the things that Lyra's been doing. Like her playing the lyre, for instance."

You seem to be getting through to her now. Her face softens up slowly as she listens to you. You began to list off the different things you've done with Lyra that Bon Bon wasn't a part of. And there's a lot for you to tell her. As you list off nearly all of the things you've done with Lyra, Bon Bon seems to realize how much she missed out on. By the time you're done, she has her head lowered and turned away from you. Cautiously, you place your hand back on her shoulder, this time not getting slapped back.

"I'm trying to make this work, Bon Bon. Please, help me with this… okay?"

She doesn't respond when you ask her that. She must be thinking over what you just said. You can feel her body shaking a little from where you hand was. You can see Bon Bon wiping at her face, shaking her head side to side. She slowly looks up to you with tears flowing from her eyes.

"W-why can't I be you?"

That is _not_ what you're expecting her to say.

"What do you mean, Bon Bon?" you ask, not exactly sure where this is headed.

Maybe you should have gotten Lyra for this. Bon Bon looks at her shoulder, staring at your hand there. She looks down at her hooves, turning them over from side to side.

"Y-your hands… I wish I had your hands…" And now it's gone into the creepy zone. You pull your hand back at her words. "You know… I've been Lyra's friend for a very long time. And she's done a lot for me, more than I can ever repay her for." She tries to wipe away her tears, but more get in the way. "But I still tried to be there for her, to help her as she had helped me before."

You weren't so sure about hearing this; it feels like Lyra should be the one listening to Bon Bon… not you.

"I've tried talking to her, you know. I've tried telling her about my feelings. But each time… I freeze. I feel like I can't breathe and I lock up every single time. So I've gone around and tried showing her how I felt with different things," Bon Bon slams her hooves down into the couch, shoving her face down, "but she can be so dense!"

"…I don't want to sound rude but… what does this have to do with you disliking me?"

"I-I've already told you I don't dislike you. It's just so hard to look at you, to know how Lyra feels about you."

_Please, for the love of god, don't tell me what you're about to tell me…_

"She's always affectionate with you," she lets out a snort before wiping at her face again, "not that she isn't affectionate to begin with. But with you, she'd always make sure to hug you whenever you're around, or to share her smoothies with you."

You just figured she was being friendly when she did that stuff.

"And th-those nights I stargaze with Lyra… those were supposed to be our nights together." You could barely hear what she just said, her words whimpering out. "I-I set those up so we could have some time alone, so I could… so I could be with her."

She continuously wipes at her face, as if that would stop the tears from falling. She slowly lowers her hooves from her eyes and places them over her chest instead.

"It really hurts, you know? The fact that I've been with her f-for so long and I can't even get up the courage to talk to her! And here you are, only two months here and she's already doing the things with you I wish she'd do with me…"

You hear Bon Bon gulp in some air before letting out a light sob. She quickly shakes her head once more, wiping at her face again.

"I don't even know why I'm telling you this."

"Bon Bon, I see Lyra as a friend, but I'm not sure if I could ever see a pony as someone like that. Maybe if I talked to her about this, she'll stop looking at me like this a-"

"NO!" Bon Bon screams out, turning her head to you. "D-don't do that! That would break her heart more than anything you could ever imagine, a-a-and I don't want to see that!"

_Anon, what have you gotten yourself into?_

"Y-you're the one she wants, th-that special somepony she's always dreamed of being with… Not me…"

Bon Bon seems to realize exactly just what she said to you. She's slumps down into the couch, openly crying her heart out now that she's let all of that out. You wonder how long she's been like this to react in such a way.

Scooting as close as you can, you wrap an arm around her body in a hug, hoping to calm her down. She weakly struggles at first, wanting you to let go. Her struggling quickly ceases as she slowly wraps her front legs around you, holding you tightly as she cries into your chest. You rub your hand up and down her back, trying to calm her down.

She doesn't want you to tell Lyra that… because that would hurt Lyra? Bon Bon is willing to give up her chance at Lyra so she'd be happy? _Now_ you understand why Bon Bon's been avoiding you. But you don't even think of Lyra like that! She's been a really good friend to you, but that's it…

Bon Bon's crying slowly ceases into little whimpers, but her hold on you hadn't let up. It must have been hard for her to say all of this.

"Bon Bon, you shouldn't give up on her. You just have to try harder at this; maybe speaking to her would get her to realize your feelings."

You lift her head up off your chest so she's looking at you. Her eyes are slightly puffy and red, and her hair is matted up against her forehead.

"If you truly have feelings for her, you won't give up so easily like this. You just need to find a way."

She blushes from embarrassment at how close she is. Bon Bon looks like she was about to reply to you when the front door gets slammed open.

"Okay then, I've got everything ready for you to-"

Lyra walks in, staring at the two of you on the couch. She blinks a few times, confused.

"Um… what's this?"

Bon Bon looks like a deer in the headlights staring at Lyra. You needed to think of something quick before Lyra could do something stupid. You need something to explain her teary eyes and why she's on you right now. Looking at the table, you see the bandages there…

"Bon Bon tripped and slammed her face into the ground so I was cleaning out her eyes."

THAT WAS YOUR FUCKING IDEA?! SERIOUSLY?!

"Oh no! Is she hurt?!"

AND SHE BELIEVES THAT?!

"Uuuuhh… a little? She needed to use my shirt so that's why it's so wet?"

Lyra jumps into action, quickly running up to her and checking her face out. She grabs Bon Bon in a tight hug, asking her if she was alright.

"Y-yeah… I'm fine now," Bon Bon answers in a raspy voice, returning the hug.

Standing up, you decide to let the two have some privacy. Maybe Bon Bon will try and talk to her now that her feelings are out in the open.

"Anon, where are you going?" Lyra asks as you start out the door of the house.

Stopping, you turn around and look at the two holding one another. Lyra looks curious while Bon Bon looks… happy for the moment, with Lyra so close to her.

"I was going for a little walk to clear my head." Staring at Bon Bon, another idea pops up. "Also, I just realized I can't attend the stargazing after Nightmare Night."

"W-why not?" Lyra asks.

"Because I already promised a pony out in town that I'd spend some time with them at the same time. You did want me trying to find more friends, remember?"

"Oh, right... Well, I guess I'll be stargazing with Bon Bon then, that's still cool."

Looking Bon Bon in the eyes, you nod at her before heading out the door, closing the door behind you. Walking out right now was a very good move. You needed to clear your head from what just happened. The cool air felt nice as you took a brisk walk around the town, waving to ponies that saw you. Looking at them, you felt really out of place here.

You practically feel like a giant in this world, towering over the ponies as they went about their business. Why are they so accepting of you? Better question… why are you so accepting of all of this? Why is Lyra?

…

You… better find a pony to stay with after Nightmare Night. Maybe you can hang out with Fluttershy? Or Twilight? You don't want to be near the apple farm for obvious reasons…

"Well, well, well! What's the big alien doing out here alone by himself?"

Hearing that, you immediately turn around to find Vinyl standing in front of you with a large grin.

"Hey there, Vinyl," you greet.

"Hey there yourself! So, what you up to out here out in town?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Heh, well I just got back from the park from playing some wicked tunes over there! Everypony was jumping around and banging along to the beats, it was amazing! You should've seen it!"

"I'm sorry to have missed it," you tell her, genuinely upset to have missed something like that.

"Eh, there's always another time, right? So, you never answered my question."

You scratch the back of your head once more. "I needed to give Bon Bon some time with Lyra… it's a bit complicated."

Vinyl looks like she knows exactly what you're talking about with her mouth forming an 'O' shape.

"Ooh, so Bon Bon told you about her feelings towards Lyra."

"Wait, you know about that?"

"Sure," she answers, waving her hoof at you. "Both Octavia and I back in the academy used to hang out with them all the time. We knew of her affections for Lyra after a while, and we kept telling her to snatch that mare up before somepony else does." She looks you up and down, as if to examine you. "And from the sounds of it, a certain alien may have done just that."

"Whoa there, I'm not interested in Lyra like that. I told Bon Bon the exact same thing too! She's just a really good friend, okay? And why would you even think that?"

She lets out a laugh hearing that.

"Why do I think that? It's freaking obvious! That mare is completely bonkers over you; you just haven't realized that yet."

"Help me out here, then! Bon Bon is the one that wants her, not me! Isn't there a way to get _her_ set up with Lyra?"

"Psh, please. I can tell you dig that mare too, don't lie."

"I don't! She's just a really good friend! Just… Ugh!" you groan out, getting very annoyed right now.

"Okay, do you have any ideas on how to get Lyra and Bon Bon together?"

"…Well, you could always do a herd with the two, which would solve all your problems there real quick!"

You grimace hearing that. Images of Big Mac quickly pop up. Vinyl sees this and barks out a laugh.

"I heard about the farm situation from Lyra a bit ago. And I'm not saying to herd with that shy farmer up on Sweet Apple Acres."

Nothing shy about that pony…

"Having more than one mare or stallion for a companion isn't looked down upon here, okay? Sure, it's not often you hear about it, but nopony will give you any trouble if you go with that."

"It's not that, Vinyl. Wait… okay, that's a part of it. I just find it weird to be in a relationship with another species is all. Back home, that would be illegal!"

"Your home sure must suck if they don't allow you to be with others not of your kind, Anon."

"It sort of helps that we're the only sentient species back home," you grumble out.

Vinyl clicks her tongue hearing that before circling around you. After going around you twice, she stops to stand in front of you once more.

"Okay… let me ask you this. Take everything you know of Lyra and place that into one of your female humans. How would you feel about being with her then?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, really? Just take all the times you've had with Lyra and place that into a female human. Like when you spend time with one another or just having fun. Just try that for a moment, okay?"

"Vinyl, I don't think it should work like that."

"And why not? It shouldn't matter what she is, just who she is right?"

"I-it's just weird, okay? Look, all I see is a good friend and nothing else."

She walks up to you and pushes a hoof into your gut. It doesn't really harm you, but you think she's trying to get a point across.

"You're telling me that you can't look over the different species thing? Really? Why should that matter at all if the being that you've grown to like isn't perfect or what you want them to be? …Shouldn't it matter more on what's inside than the outside?"

"No, that's not the problem." You lift your hand up and wave it around the area you're currently in. "This is. I'm in a completely different world, right? Someplace I'm still trying to get used to. And you're trying to tell me I should find romance?"

Vinyl sighs hearing that before shaking her head at you. She quickly lifts up her goggles with her magic, showing off her intensely red eyes as they stare you down.

"Are you trying to tell me that love can only be found in the hearts of familiar beings and that it's only found in familiar places? The way I see it, love's much, _much_ more complicated than that. It has a way of… sneaking up on you and before you know it… it's found you. The only thing left to do is to work at it and let the love flourish. You just gotta learn to love, that's all."

Vinyl grins before letting out a small chuckle.

"At least, that's the way I see things, anyways," she tells you, giving you a wink before putting her goggles back on. "Don't worry. You'll get over the whole species thing, I'm certain of it."

_Easy for you to say_, you think. It's just so weird to even think of that. Maybe you shouldn't think about it right now… maybe later.

"Oh, Vinyl," you call out to her as she was walking away.

You didn't even notice that. She must've thought the conversation was over.

"Yes?" she calls back to you.

"I need a favor from you. I have to stay with someone after Nightmare Night during most of the day and throughout the night, probably even until the next day. Do you mind if I came over?"

"I do hope that you're not trying to get me and Octavia into that little herd of yours."

"What?! No! I'm n-"

You immediately stop, hearing her laughter.

"I'm just joking Anon, sheesh. Sure you can come over, we can play some music and maybe you can tell me about your world's music."

"Right… sounds like a plan. Oh, and here," you say, reaching into your pocket.

You pull out your iPod and pull it out. Vinyl walks back over before taking it, completely confused by what you're handing her.

"What's this?" she asks, twirling it about with her magic.

"That's an iPod. It's a music player from back home. If you can make it work, you can play with it for a bit."

"You're giving this to me?!"

"Lending it, I want it back eventually. You said you played with lightning. We call that electricity back home. That thing runs on it, and if you're careful enough you can probably get a charge back into it. I figure, you charge it up and I can show you what's on it after Nightmare Night."

A large, wide smile appears on her face before you hear a small 'squee' come out.

"Ah yeah, now this is some awesome alien gear we're talking about! You got it! This is so wicked; I can't wait to see what you humans have for music!"

"Just make sure you don't overcharge it or it could destroy the music player!" you yell out to a now running Vinyl.

You hear something, but she's already running at an insanely fast speed back to her home. She must be anxious to fix that up. Looking around, you notice that the sun's already started setting at a very quick speed with the moon now coming up. Well, quicker than it should be to you. God is that still weird to look at.

You have to get used to these things eventually. You walk back home, hoping you've given them enough time. Maybe Bon Bon confessed? Arriving back to their place, you open the door slowly before walking in and closing the door. Looking around, you see no one here. Strange. Looking in the kitchen, you see Bon Bon sitting there, staring out the window. You knock on the side of the wall, making her jump in her seat.

"Darn it Anon, you scared me!"

"Sorry," you apologize, taking a seat at the table with her. "So… did you tell her your feelings?"

"…No."

Letting out a sigh, you rub the bridge of your nose. You were hoping she would've said something.

"Where's Lyra?"

"She's setting a bath for me. She told me that… it would help me relax."

That's Lyra for you, always trying to help her friends.

"Anon, I want to thank you for what you did… the stargazing thing, I mean. If you want, I can try and find somepony you can be with on that day."

You shake your head. "It's fine, I already found someone."

"Really? Who?"

"I was walking around when Vinyl found me. We got to talking, I asked her, and she agreed to take me over that night."

"Well, that's good then."

…

"Oh, I feel I should mention that we _sort of_ started talking about Lyra and you. I didn't mean to, but she seemed to already know what was happening."

"Uuugh… Of course she'd say something… What did she have to say?"

"Um, well, how you should try harder?"

You are not about to say how Vinyl more or less 'told her so'.

"That all?"

This time, you're the one rolling your eyes.

"No, she mentioned something about herding with me and Lyra. For fuck's sake, polygamy is just so damn weird to even think about, right? Other than that, she had a show going on in the park and we'll be talking about the music where I'm from."

"…Uh-huh."

Bon Bon doesn't seem to be paying attention now. She's probably tired, you think. Standing up, you stretch your arms out.

"I better go and take a shower before getting some sleep since I start my… new job in the morning. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"…Okay."

You just shrug at that. She probably needs some time alone, you think as you made your way upstairs for a quick shower and some sleep.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Bon Bon's POV~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

After Anon left, you slumped down on the table, lying your head down on it. Lyra asked you to wait here until Anon came back, though she was setting up a bath for you as well. Why was this day so stressful to you? Not only did you just confess your heart out to somepony you had no intention to, but you bucking cried like a little filly as well!

You hated feeling so out of control like that. You also hated the fact that what Anon said is completely true. Why _are_ you acting so badly towards it?

…

You let out a groan, realizing what you just thought. You meant him, HIM! You feel like dirt right now. You need to change things. You didn't go out of your way to act mean or anything, but you sure had a negative attitude towards him. _Had_ being the key word here. You're going to change this; it's unfair to him that you're acting so badly to him. He's just another pony, or person, just like any of you ponies. It's not his fault he was sucked from his home and is living with you now…

It was nice of him to leave you alone with Lyra like he did. After he left, it gave you some time with Lyra to talk. You tried your hardest to say something to her… But like all the other times, you choked up on the spot.

Why can't you admit your feelings to her? Why can't she see what she means to you? Nothing changes, does it? You just want to see her happy… But isn't there a way for you to come out happy as well?

You shake your head from those thoughts. You don't want the tears to come back now. Letting out a sigh, you think back to Anon's words. Of course Vinyl would say that. That darn mare's been saying things like that for a good while now…

_I should've listened to her when I had the chance_, you think. But you didn't…

…

Wait…

…Could that work? Would you be willing to risk it all for one last gamble? You feel your heart thumping hard against your chest. Just the thought alone makes your head swim with the little fantasies daring to bubble into your head as a euphoric feeling flew right through you.

Yes… maybe you can try that. You've never tried it before, and it's probably your last chance at her.

A herd. You're going to try and… learn how to love an alien. And you're going to get him to love the both of you in return. Maybe it can be easier to talk to Lyra with somepony else there with you. Just thinking about being with Lyra makes you feel light-headed.

You've got a lot of ground to make up here. Surely you have enough room in your heart for another. In loving Anon, you might get what you've always wanted.

Lyra.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Anon's POV~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

You had just finished breakfast and are currently walking into town to the Ponyville Day Spa for your first day on the job. And you are not looking forward to it. Lyra and Bon Bon tried one last time to talk you out of it. You politely declined this 'carrot farm' they were trying to get you to work at.

It was strange though… Bon Bon was acting off to you. She certainly seemed a lot nicer, that's for sure. Bon Bon confused you when she tried to get you to join her and Lyra in the stargazing

You figured she's trying to play along from last night since Lyra was around and you went with it. You politely refused, stating where you would be that night. She seemed a bit troubled at your answer, though; did you say the wrong thing? Maybe it's just your imagination.

Arriving at the spa, you see Lotus and Aloe opening up their shop and doing their usual routine they told you about; that being they cleaned up and getting supplies out for selling or using. The two ponies turn to you before looking at one another. Was that… nervousness they're showing?

"Anon, we… we didn't know that you didn't know what had happened yesterday. We should've explained and… I think we owe you an apology."

Where did this come from?

"And we are hoping you'd still work here, doing those types of massages, if you're willing. We'll pay very well... but only if you're fine with working here."

They're shuffling back and forth on their hooves, uncertain of what your answer will be. Well of course you're staying, it's good money.

"So long as you don't have me _touching_ another being's private area, I think I can try working here."

The two immediately look relieved, hearing that.

"Don't worry; we will make sure to train you before you work on any customers, okay?"

Lotus walks you to the back room where she now has the places segmented into different areas instead of it all being about for some reason.

"You shall work inside this zoned out area. It is sound-proof and can absorb any magic. We also have this garment for you to wear so you won't be harmed by magic."

She gives you a very stylish looking shirt and pants; it looks like it was designed from Rarity. Well of course it would be, she's the only one who knows how to make your clothes.

…

Oh god, Rarity! You're going to massage her later on today! This is going to be so fucking awkward…

"We will show you what you will be doing until a customer is here for you, such as cleaning up or helping around. You will later on break for lunch and then come back for some study sessions on massaging. Then the volunteers will come in and you will practice on them.

"…Volunteers?" you ask, since that was fucking plural.

"Yes, one of each pony type: a regular pony, a pegasus, and a unicorn. Are there any questions?"

"…No, there aren't."

You have to get used to this, this was where you would be working from now on…

…

It's been a few hours now. They showed you how to sterilize and clean the jacuzzis and clean out the tubs as they attended to their customers. Whenever one of them came in for a massage, they'd pull you to the side and give you an idea on what to do. There are a few other ponies they didn't mention working here, but it's more like they only did the assigned task they were given and then disappeared into the background.

You met Bon Bon by her stand during lunch today. Lyra was too busy with her work for the princess, so she stayed inside the house to finish some of her work. Bon Bon… she's very friendly to you today, much more than usual. Bon Bon's very polite now, and she even tried to hold a conversation with you.

She really must've taken what happened yesterday to heart. _This is a very nice change_, you think. Bon Bon was talking about what she did at the academy when you notice the time.

"Hey Bon Bon, I have to go back to work now. It was nice having lunch with you."

"W-wait, Anon. Are you, um… can you come back tomorrow like this?" You blink at that as you see her blush a little. "Th-that's if you want to…"

"Well sure, but I'd like to spend some time with Lyra too."

"That's fine, so long as you came every now and then. I'll try to invite her sometime as well so we can eat together, okay?"

She's not complaining about you spending time with Lyra?

"Are you sure you're fine with that?"

"Yes, it's fine. You better go back to work before you get in trouble."

You don't argue with her on that, it would look bad being late to work on the first day.

Arriving at work, you quickly get pulled into the back by Aloe this time around. She takes out a dummy, showing you how to go about massaging in certain areas and for different reasons. You're so engrossed into your work; you don't even notice the time pass you by.

Eventually, Aloe stops you from your work and tells you the first volunteer has arrived. Grumbling to yourself, you enter inside your zone area putting on your garments. Aloe comes back with a pony you haven't met before.

"Anon, you don't need the clothing on unless it's a unicorn."

"I may as well get used to it," you reply back, watching her shrug. "So, why did you volunteer, ma'am?"

"Seeing as you never came up to the carrot farm, I was interested in seeing what the spa ponies saw in you. So, I volunteered."

She walks up to you before extending a hoof. You gently grab her hoof before giving it a shake.

"The name's Carrot Top." Of course it is…

"My name's Anon," you greet as she lies on top of the table.

"Just relax and allow Anon to work his magic."

You scoff at that before you start preparing by cleaning your hands. You're hoping to not break this pony.

Aloe instructs you how to massage the pony for the next hour. These 'Earth' ponies have much more mass on them than other ponies. That meant earth ponies would be like putty in your hands. Apart from the few remarks of pain Carrot Top feels, she's moaning the entire time. She keeps having you work on her hindquarters most of your session with her. It was like you're molding her back there with how soft she felt.

"Earth ponies are more sensitive to being massaged since they have more mass than the other two types of ponies. They feel more pleased when you hit the right spots, Anon."

God was it weird they were called _earth_ ponies. How can such a coincidence exist? And if what she said was what you thought it meant…

You were giving her the equivalent of what you did to Rarity yesterday, only it took more time to do. From how Carrot Top is responding to your massage, you think you've already hit that point a while back.

"H-how can a massage f-feel this g-g-gooood," you hear Carrot Top moan out, letting out another squeal.

"See, Anon? With practice, you are the perfect being for this job!" You don't _want_ to be the perfect being for this job! "Now, the second volunteer should be in soon enough so I must bring Carrot Top over to the bathing room."

After she took out a slightly protesting Carrot Top who wanted more, you cleaned the now very wet table off for the next pony. Why was this so wet? Ponies shouldn't sweat that much, right?

…

"Oh god…"

She was getting off to that?! That explains why they _really_ want you here now. Even back home, it's unheard of to have a masseuse that could… get their customers off. _Just put it in the back of your head, pretend it's something else…_ It's really hard to do that. Oh look, Lotus came just in time with another volu-

"~+Oh goddamn it!+~" you say, slipping into English.

"Hey, Anon!"

Fucking Flitter's here. She must be your pegasus that volunteered. Lotus places her on the table before looking at you.

"Are you ready, Anon?"

NO GODDAM IT!

…

Flitter's surprisingly easy to handle. Unlike Carrot Top, she has you continuously moving around her body. She must've been curious as to what you can do. She's very professional about this the entire time, even more so than Carrot Top was. That was… until you got to her wings, that is.

It only took you a few minutes on her wings before she couldn't take it anymore and collapsed on the table. Lotus didn't like whatever she just saw and quickly escorted Flitter out immediately. What was that about? Just as you're… finishing cleaning up the mess Flitter left, the spa pony quickly came back with a very red face.

"We might need to prepare for winged ponies in the future. You… well… your massage of her wings nearly put her into a fake state of estrus."

Holy shit! You knew what estrus is after Lyra explained that to you. You can't believe that's really possible.

"You don't have to worry if that ever _does_ happen though. Those usually go away very soon since they're not the real thing." You just stare at her, making her fidget. "L-let me get your last volunteer for the day before we discuss what you have done today and let you go after cleaning up."

You only nod your head, still shocked at what she said. Then you jerk your head, remembering Rarity was going to be next. Hearing Lotus return just as you got done with cleaning, you turn around and… look… at them…

"~+WHYYYYY?!+~"

"Um… hey, Anon."

WHY'S LYRA FUCKING HERE?! SERIOUSLY?!

"I need to talk to him real quick Lotus, okay?"

She nods her head before going somewhere else, leaving you alone with Lyra.

"Why?" you struggle to ask, trying your best not to slip into English again.

"I-it's not what it looks like. After yesterday, I quickly went out and confronted Lotus and Aloe about you working here."

So _that_ explains why they were acting like that in the morning. You narrow your eyes at her, forcing Lyra to take a step back.

"But why are _you_ here?"

"I… I know that having Rarity as your volunteer would make you very uncomfortable, so when I spoke to them yesterday… I volunteered myself."

Having Lyra as a volunteer is even _more_ uncomfortable!

"After talking to them, I also got them to remove the horn massages since I personally told them they work well enough," she tells you with a blush.

Oh. Well, that changes thi-

"You sort of need to do it one more time though, to prove it wasn't a fluke to them… I couldn't change their minds about that."

Remember, she means well. Don't get upset at her, and try not to think about what you're about to do.

"~+L-l-let's just...+~" you take a few breaths to calm yourself down. "…Let's just get this done with for today… I'm tired."

You really are, especially after massaging the other two. This took a lot more work than you had originally believed.

"You're not upset with me, are you?" she asks, worried about her decision here.

"No Lyra, I'm not upset."

Okay, you're sort of upset. Just get this over with and try not to think too hard on what you're about to do.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Why did Lyra have to volunteer herself for this? You know that she meant well, but still! As soon as you finished her… massage, Lyra got cleaned up and went off to Carrot Top's place, saying she was going to spend some time there. You have an inkling that it was to talk about what went on here…

After cleaning up once again, Lotus and Aloe go over some of the problems you're currently having along with ways to improve them. They didn't take long since they too wanted to get back home, but they don't rush you whenever you have a question to ask.

Once the shop's cleaned up, they let you go for the day. They told you that there's probably another week or two before they'll allow you to do simple massages on your own. That's fine; you need all the practice you can get. Arriving back home, you let out a sigh, making your way up to the room for a hot shower.

"Anon," you hear being called out to you.

"Hey, Bon Bon. How was your day?" you ask, taking a seat next to her in the kitchen.

"It went really well! In fact, I have a big batch of candy that's ready for selling tomorrow. I'll still need Lyra's help the next day to make a few certain candies, but it shouldn't be a problem." Bon Bon moves her seat closer to you, giving you a smile. "But what about you? Tell me about your day, Anon."

"You… you want to hear about _my_ day?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't care, right?"

Bon Bon's full of surprises today, isn't she? You're not going to complain; she's certainly a lot friendlier to you now.

…

You've been talking to her for the past… you're actually not sure how long you've been talking to her. This is the first time the two of you held such a long conversation. It's a bit difficult to speak their language, so you need to take a break from all the talking with her every so often. You try talking to Bon Bon about Lyra for a short time, trying to see if there was a way to get that pony to like her. She just smiles at you.

"Don't worry about it Anon… I think I have a plan for that."

Well that's good to hear. And it sure is nice to hear her say your name too. She rarely used it before, often calling you alien most of the time. You feel yourself feeling very drowsy though; you really need some sleep. A shower first, of course; you wanted to make sure anything from those massages is off of you.

"Bon Bon, it was nice talking to you, but I'm getting tired. I need to get a shower and some sleep, okay?"

"Oh, okay then."

Standing up, you push your chair in and make your way out.

"W-wait, Anon," you hear called out. Turning around, you look at Bon Bon. "Um… could you, well… Could you give me a hug?" she asks you with an extremely red blush.

You blink at that before making your way over to her. She's probably still feeling upset about yesterday. Getting down on one knee, you push yourself forward and grab her body, squeezing her in a tight hug. You hear her hum softly, obviously enjoying the hug.

A clicking could be heard, immediately interrupting your hug. Moving away from her, you look at the entrance to the kitchen and see Lyra standing there.

"What… what are you doing?"

"Oh, I was just giving her a hug Lyra," you tell her standing up. "How was your time at the farm?"

"…Good. It was good."

"Well, that's nice to hear," you chuckle out. You let out a loud yawn before rubbing your eyes. "I better get a shower now and some sleep. I'll talk to you two in the morning."

"Right… well, goodnight then."

Walking out of the kitchen, Bon Bon immediately follows you. She quickly enters her room as you enter your own for the night. Man are you tired! Even though work was stressful, it sure feels good finally doing something again. Maybe over time, you can learn to like your work more. If not, you can always look for another job. And surely Lyra will get over you as well, right?

…

Yeah, you just have to be optimistic about things! Bon Bon _did_ say she has a plan. That means she's still trying to get Lyra. You're hopeful whatever her plan is, it works out for her. That pony, she could use someone like Lyra.

~End Chapter Ten~


	12. Chapter Eleven - More Trick Than Treat

It's been well over a week since you first started your first day at the Ponyville day spa.

Things have been interesting, to say the least. For starters, you've been gaining a reputation. And not the type you'd want, either. Word's gone around town that your very touch can turn all the mares into a pleasured heap of satisfaction… You are not very happy about that.

Why can't Flitter keep her mouth shut about your sessions? It's bad enough she keeps going into her pseudo-estrus each time she volunteered. She's now forced to eat those strange little pills before and after each session, just to keep from going nuts on you. Her advances on you out in town, though... they're less subtle than they were before.

Usually she just grabs onto your arm and body hugs it, but lately she's been rubbing against you more and more along with being more… creative in her ways of showing affection. Like giving you crudely drawn pictures when no one was looking. They were of you and her in a bed… naked. You were doing things… the naked kinds of things. And she even has comics of this stuff. It surprises you how accurate her drawings are.

Lyra was a big help in getting her to stop, for the most part. The big surprise was when Bon Bon stepped in to help as well, keeping herself in-between you and Flitter.

Ah yes, Bon Bon.

Ever since your talk with her, she's had an extreme turnaround compared to how she used to be. Before, she would usually just ignore you or keep away. Now, she's a part of nearly everything you do with Lyra: walks in the park to kite flying to some silly antics that they'd pull. Bon Bon sure has been more smiles around you lately. Now, if you could only figure out why she's been asking you for all those hugs.

You just got done with work at the spa. They let you off early today, so you decide to walk around and pick up a package. There are decorations at every corner of Ponyville. There's so much black and orange all around you. As you're walking past some stands, you see Rose at her own stand, smelling some flowers. _She must be waiting for a customer_, you think.

When she notices you looking at her, she immediately turns away from you in a panic. That pony caused you a lot of trouble a few days ago. She banded together the remaining townsfolk that were still somewhat wary of you to have a 'talk'. And by talk, you mean run you all over the place, trying to drag you off into a cage.

Rose convinced them all you were not an alien, but a monster from the Everfree Forest, and she wanted you to return there. You remember some of the stories Lyra told you about that forest...

You made sure to stay the hell away from Rose and her group.

That day was the most exercise you've had in a long time, not including the apple farm. Not that you aren't in shape right now; eating nothing but mostly grains, vegetables, and eggs for protein had a major impact on your body. Bon Bon had to get the rest of the town to stop Rose's group from chasing you. That led into a huge chase with everyone, ultimately leading to an enormous fight.

That was some fight… Well, it wasn't much of a real fight, but it was the best fight you've ever seen. They mostly threw pies at one another. The two groups completely forgot about you once that started up. You just… stood there on the sidelines with some weird pony with an hourglass that was helping you get away from Rose's group that day.

"For a Tellurian, you're not as dangerous as you would appear to be for your race," he told you. "Well, I best be off and keep an eye out somewhere else; you never know when a Dalek could pop up."

…What a weird pony. Other than that very weird instance, you watched as the two groups continued throwing pies back and forth. If this is how they go about fights, they automatically get the best species award. Seriously, that shit's fun to watch. Having a feud with another person? Let's throw some pies! Now, you just had to get over the fact that it was about them trying to throw you into a forest that would most likely rape you, then kill you, then rape you once more for good measure.

Of course… this was before Twilight and Lyra even knew what this fight was about… or that it was even happening. How in the hell did those two ponies not notice what was happening sooner? They only got there near the end, something about inventing better socks held them up. But when they found out about the fight and the reason for it, good god were they mad! Twilight and Lyra decided to double team the entire Rose group. Now _that_ was something to remember!

Twilight kept bombarding them with lasers, and Lyra looked like she was swiping everyone with magical claws! It sort of reminded you of a comic you read once. Of course, you could be wrong, what with you being pretty out of it at the time. You were hit with an enormous pie in the head.

…And magic.

…And a colorful cannon that came out of nowhere.

You woke up in a hospital with bandages wrapped around your head. The hospital wasn't what you expected it to be; you thought it would have looked more like an animal clinic. You're surprised you weren't admitted to the hospital sooner. Shouldn't you have been checked in and documented more thoroughly by now? Whatever the case, they did a _very_ thorough examination the moment you came into the hospital. You know this since they put you in your own room, and that place had scans of your body pinned _everywhere_.

That shit scared you the moment you woke up. It might've also been the fact that they were in the process of scanning you. Still, better this than them opening you up and taking a peek. The pony in charge of the examination kept asking you for any information you know about your body. You helped where you could, but you didn't study human anatomy back in college so your knowledge is very limited.

You wished they would have stopped asking you questions about your genitals… fucking weird ponies. They also had your hands completely wrapped in some of the softest wrappings. You asked them why they did that.

"Anon, everypony in this town has already heard of the wonders your 'hands' can do," he told you with a smirk. "They are a commodity that must be treated with care."

…Why are these ponies so fucking weird?

After a full day of being examined and prodded, they allowed you to leave with Lyra and Twilight. The two of them demanded copies of everything they did. Twilight said she was starting a book about you and your species for the ponies. Lyra… just wanted them for her reports. Better they get it now than get it later on by doing the scans themselves.

…

You blink a few times, realizing you've been standing in the same spot, reminiscing on last week. It appeared like you were staring at Rose the entire time. She looks like she's about to have a crying fit right now from your constant staring. She sort of _did_ set up an angry mob to chase you down. Rose probably feels there's still some animosity from you because of her actions.

"P-please… I-I'm _really_ sorry about what I d-did," Rose stutters.

"It's fine, Rose," you sigh out. "I'm not even angry about it."

"W-why were you st-staring at me then?" she asks, wiping away her tears.

Walking up to her, you ruffle her mane, making her squeak out from the unexpected response. After patting her mane back into place, Rose looks up to you smiling at her. You make sure not to smile too widely since your canines would most likely freak her out.

"Sorry about that, I was just spacing out for a moment. And don't get so worked up about what you did, okay?"

…Yeah, she still looks upset. "A-are you sure?"

"Yes Rose, I'm very sure… Everyone makes mistakes, just learn from them and move on. "

Rose sighs after hearing that. She gives you a big smile, almost looking like a heavy weight is lifted from her back.

"I'll do my best not to make the same mistake twice," she says in a chirpier manner.

Giving her a nod, you walk away feeling a bit better. These ponies can be so damn emotional. You just have one stop to make before heading back to Lyra's: Creative Costumes. Nightmare Night is tomorrow and Lyra wants you to have a costume. She came up with an enormous list of different ideas that you're not too fond of dressing as. One of the worst ones was a mud monster. You don't want to be covered in mud.

So, you decided last week to come back here and ask about the costumes. They're too expensive for you to have any of them modified or created. That was until you mentioned some of your costumes back home. A little bargaining later, you struck a deal with the pony working there.

"Good day to you, Anon!" Peppy the store clerk greets you into the store. "You must be here for your costume! Let me go get it real quick and you can try it on so I know it's perfect."

Peppy immediately walks into the back to gather all the multiple pieces your costume needed. You may not care much for Halloween, or Nightmare Night as the ponies are calling it, but if they're having you dress up, you're going to do it right. Peppy comes back out and immediately takes you to a changing booth to try it on. The gloves fit like a charm, the boots are a perfect size, and the latex suit has just the right amount of detail for it to be passable.

"Don't forget to try out the little toys that you requested! They should work _just_ like you described them."

They are NOT t-

…

Wait…

"These actually WORK?!"

"Well, yes. I wouldn't give you a costume unless it makes you feel like the actual being in question."

…Okay, you just changed your mind. This is going to be the best holiday EVER!

You only need to test out a few of the gadgets before taking the costume off and having it boxed away. Pulling out your bits, you hand over only ten to Peppy.

"Are you sure that's enough?"

"Are you kidding?! I should probably be paying _you_ for all the ideas you gave me for future costumes! I was in a serious slump since I couldn't think of anything new to make. But you," he says, poking you in the stomach, "YOU came up with many ideas for me to continue running my business for YEARS to come!"

Peppy stops for a moment, staring off into nothing.

"You know… You really _have_ been a great help to me. I usually get somepony that comes in mysteriously every year to sell me specially made masks. A clever little thing, they disappear right after Nightmare Night so they have to come back in and get new ones next year."

He walks over to one of his windows and stares out to the street.

"I was getting worried there for a second since those usually make up a bulk of my sales around this time of the year. I hope nothing bad happened to him, he was always so eager to sell me his masks with a smile…"

He looks as if he's spacing out to you, looking off into nothing. He quickly jumps in the air, twirling around to your direction where you can see a large smile on his face.

"But with YOUR help, I can now sell many, MANY more things for YEARS to come!"

Peppy quickly gallops over to an area hidden by curtains. He pulls them away, revealing a pony dummy in a glass case, showcasing one of your ideas you passed off to him. A hideous abomination is what you see. Peppy really outdone himself with that.

"This alone is one of the most _terrifying_ things I have EVER seen in my life! I can't WAIT to get my volunteers to scare the town with them!"

"You're not going to sell them this year? And what about the other creatures or monsters I told you about?"

"I can use those next year! I also need to SELL the idea that the new costumes are even scarier than the normal costumes. So, I'm going to have some volunteers in costume going around and scaring everypony in town! That'll DEFINITELY make it so everypony in town comes here for my costumes!"

That… doesn't make sense at all. But Peppy sounds like he knows what he's doing… probably. Peppy walks over to his counter and takes out the book you wrote down on the creatures you told him about. He lets out a chuckle as he reads.

"We usually just have zombies groaning and eating brains, but to eat the _flesh_ off of the living?! And they're not supposed to feel pain at all _and_ continue hunting down their prey?! That is TRULY horrifying! I'm definitely going to need some volunteers to be… eaten."

Peppy chuckles out menacingly, his eyes glued to the book.

"I'm going to use _everything_ you have here, including that fake flesh idea you told me about," he says with an eerie smile.

"Fake… flesh?"

"Sure! It took me two days straight without sleep, but I managed to make something that appears JUST like the real thing! So when one of my zombies eats somepony, it looks like the real thing too!"

He has an excited gleam in his eyes with a smile stretching from ear to ear… It's sort of creepy seeing on a pony.

"Why, I even have it set up so the costumed flesh would crawl on the victims, making MORE zombies!" He lets out a giggle, clapping his hooves together. "This'll be the best Nightmare Night EVER!"

Peppy turns his head towards you with a smile that looks eerily similar to how you've seen Twilight smile.

"Don't worry; I'll use your other ideas for next year… I wouldn't want to use all the good stuff at once, right?"

Maybe telling this pony what you know about zombies and some other creatures might have been a bad judgment call on your end. Their version just had a little bit of blood and looked green.

Shrugging it off, you take your box and walk out the door, heading to Lyra's as quickly as you can. Whatever happens, it's totally worth getting this costume. You have a feeling that this is going to be a night no one is ever going to forget…

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Arriving back home, you see Lyra's sitting at her desk, writing up another report to the princess. She hears you entering, turning away from her work to you.

"Welcome back, Anon!" Lyra says with a smile. "…What's with the box?"

"This is my costume for tomorrow."

You quickly get up the stairs and place the box at the foot of the bed. Lyra follows you, trying to get a peek inside the box.

"Lyra, wait until tomorrow, okay?"

"Humph!" she grunts with a pout on her face.

The two of you walk back downstairs, with Lyra going back to her desk.

"Not finished?" you ask her, sitting down at the couch.

"No, I'm reading over some of the documents the princess sent over. She's had reports on a group of cat people that reside right by the griffons. I'm not exactly sure how they went unnoticed for so long."

"So… what exactly are you doing?"

Lyra lets out a sigh, looking over some of the papers at her desk. "I'm supposed to read over what information they have on them and write up a proper assessment of their capabilities, what they can do to us ponies, and different scenarios of how to get around them and how they'd get around us."

You blink, hearing all of that. You just thought she made up stories on different creatures that _might_ exist.

"What do you have on these cats?"

"Well, they're bipedal with fur so they're like a minotaur without horns. They also have claws in their digits located on their hands, and have a much thinner frame."

She continues listing off everything she has on them, even giving you some rough drafts on what she's written so far. This sounds like a fun job, but she doesn't seem to be enjoying it, like she's upset with something.

"Is there something wrong? You don't sound too happy right now."

"…I'd rather be doing what I was before."

"And what was that?"

Lyra fidgets in her seat before looking at you. "Um… well, that was when I was doing things with you when you got here…"

"We can still do that stuff, Lyra. Well… so long as you get your work done first."

"But I don't wanna work!" Lyra whines out, teleporting herself on top of you.

You grunt from Lyra's weight suddenly hitting your gut. You see her sitting on your lap with a lyre in her hooves.

"See, we can do this instead!" she tells you before plucking a few strings.

"Lyra," you say, pushing her hooves down from the lyre, "I'm pretty sure that the princess wouldn't like the idea that she's paying you when you're not working, right?"

Lyra's ears flatten against her head, letting out a long winded sigh. "Yeah…"

Grabbing her by the sides, you lift her up into the air. She lets out a squeak as you force yourself to stand up before placing her on the ground.

You're not sure how she manages to keep holding that lyre. She looks up to you with a pout, probably guessing what you're about to say.

"We can play the lyre after you get your work done."

"B-but… but I wanna play nooooow!" she whines, thumping her hooves about.

"We have responsibilities, remember? We can play the lyre _after_ you finish your work for the princess."

Lyra grunts out to you before placing her lyre down beside the couch.

"…Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine," she says, straining out that word as she drags herself back to her desk. You're not sure why she decided to drag herself and not teleport.

"Don't worry, I'll wait for you here until you finish."

You don't have anything else to do for the day. Twilight isn't going to be bugging you since she's preparing something. You don't feel like studying, either.

Nope, just a simple time relaxing. It feels nice.

…

"Uh, hey Lyra? What are those cat people called anyway?"

Lyra stops her work before she starts digging through her papers. She finds some sort of document with a sun imprinted on it and some words.

"It says here… they're named khajiit."

"…Really?"

"Yes really. Why do you ask?"

"Um, no reason."

That sure sounds familiar to you…

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

The rest of the day is pretty nice, in your opinion. Lyra keeps on grumbling about her work, but you encourage her to continue on. Bon Bon comes back just as Lyra is finishing her work, so the three of you get together with Lyra continuing her lessons on how to play the lyre.

Bon Bon pulls out a lyre herself, surprising both you and Lyra. She says she also knows how to play and wants to join. It doesn't take you long to figure out why Bon Bon knows how to play that instrument. It's sort of sweet, seeing that. But her helping you learn the lyre… that might have been a bad idea.

It looks like Lyra's a bit rustled, having Bon Bon play with her and helping with the lessons. When Bon Bon sees this, she whispers for you to hold Lyra in a hug while she plays. You know Bon Bon wants you and Lyra to be an item, but it feels... off, how she said it. You thought she's still trying to find a way to get Lyra.

Doing what Bon Bon says immediately helps. Lyra's content with sitting on your lap as Bon Bon plays with the lyre. She's not as good as Lyra, but she's still better than you. When Lyra wants a turn, Bon Bon gets up from her seat… and switches places with Lyra. A few hours of this with the two switching back and forth to be on your lap for a… hug… while the other one played is a bit strange. You wish Lyra would stop jumping up and down in your lap while Bon Bon plays. It's a rather… uncomfortable position for you to be in.

There isn't much for you to do after that. You go to sleep early and wake up to Lyra telling you she'd be gone for most of the day with Bon Bon. That leaves you with absolutely nothing to do right now.

Nightmare Night's a holiday where no one's going to be working and most of the shops are closed. You can't remember the last time you had this much free activity. You spend most of your time in front of a mirror practicing their language.

Peppy comes by around the afternoon so he can tell you what's happening today with his costumes. He says that he told every single unicorn in the town about what's happening so there won't be any mishaps with magic attacks. Most of them will also be in on the act, being zombies and victims. The 'elements of harmony' were also told so they won't interfere with the planning.

That leaves the majority of Ponyville alone to defend themselves against a zombie invasion that's going down later tonight… with absolutely no warning whatsoever.

"Won't your volunteers get hurt by the defending ponies if most of the town doesn't know about this?"

"Heh… I've already got that one covered, Anon. See, the unicorns will be using special spells that wrap around the 'infected' so they won't get hurt, only appear to. We've also already planned for anypony that tries anything. The remaining ponies that don't get turned by initial wave will be told of what's happening eventually when the refs for this get to them. Oh, and you're a 'safe zone'"

You really hope no one gets hurt dur-

"Safe… zone?"

"Well, you're not from this world, so none of the ponies will go after you. So if anypony comes up to you, the zombies will leave them be! But I'm not going to tell anypony that, they'll have to find out themselves!"

FUCK! You did NOT want any part of this tonight! You just wanted to see what their holiday was like…

Peppy told you some of the other details and 'rules' that would be used tonight... along with some other things you'll be involved in. It seems like he's got everything covered. He leaves soon afterwards, leaving you bored once more.

Right now, you're currently inside Lyra's bathroom with the door locked so you can change into your costume. Lyra told you the night will come sooner today for the holiday. She also told you she'd be back with Bon Bon as soon as it started getting dark. It's taking longer to get into it without any help. Half an hour later, you got all your pieces fitted on and your gadgets in place.

Looking into the mirror, you can't help but smirk at how badass you look right now. You walk down the stairs, feeling awesome. And just in time too; you see Lyra walking through the door with Bon Bon. Just as you're about to greet them, you hear a scream coming from behind them. A blast of light impacts the wall next to you, forcing you to fall on your ass on the steps. They both look like they're panicking.

"W-wait! WAIT! It's me-it's me-it's me," you scream out to them continuously.

"…Anonymous?!" you hear Lyra scream back.

"YES!"

"Why do you look scary like that?!" Bon Bon hollers at you.

"It's for Nightmare Night! My costume!"

…

"It's… very intimidating…"

"It's supposed to be," you reply, standing back up.

Lyra walks over to you, poking your spandex suit. She walks around you, playing with your cape before standing in front of you once more.

"Are you dressed up as somepony from your home planet?"

You give them a smirk before grabbing either side of your cape and flaring it out.

"Of course… for I, am, Batman!"

You can see Bon Bon trying to drag in Fluttershy, who's lying on her back with all four legs standing straight up.

"Did she faint?" you ask as Lyra goes around your back and starts playing with your cape.

"It sort of has to do with a big, scary monster that is currently standing here," Bon Bon says, dragging Fluttershy to the couch.

"And why are you talking like that?" Lyra asks you as she grabs onto your cape, climbing up it for some reason. "Your accent is already strange enough, but now it's more… um… Bon Bon, help me out here."

"Gravelly."

"Yeah, it's more gravelly," Lyra tells you as she reaches your neck and wraps both her front legs around it. "I should _totally_ get a cape like this."

"Because this is how Batman talks."

"It sounds like this _Bat-man_ needs a cough drop," Bon Bon says, trying to wake up Fluttershy. The poor pony still has her legs standing up stiff.

Sitting down on the couch, the three of you wait for Fluttershy to wake up. You tell them everything you know about Batman and the awesomeness he represents. Lyra gets really excited when you tell her about his gadgets and how Peppy got them to actually work. She makes sure to write down everything you have to say.

"Are you going to use your toys tonight?" Lyra asks as she stands up to walk over to her desk.

"They are _not_ toys; they are the tools of his trade. If you must call them anything, they are gadgets. And maybe. I'm not sure if using them would be appropriate."

"They may be useful for tonight," says Bon Bon as she continues to nudge Fluttershy, "even though the zombies won't come after you, it would be something you can use to get out of the way of other ponies around the place."

"…How do you know about the zombies?"

Bon Bon raises a brow at you, as if you just asked a stupid question.

"Peppy should've told you that all the unicorns will be in on this. Since Lyra was going to tell me anyways, he also told me."

"Oh… right."

"That's also why Fluttershy is here," Lyra said right after burning her note in the green fire lantern. "Since she's one of the elements, she was told of what's happening. Fluttershy doesn't like this holiday to begin with, so she'll be hiding in our home."

"What did you send the princess? And why wouldn't she just stay in her home then instead?"

She looks over at Fluttershy. "Flutter's here doesn't like Nightmare Night at all. Many ponies know this, so they may want to give her a fright for fun. She doesn't want to upset her animals, so she's over here tonight."

"Oh, alright then," you reply.

"Also, I just sent her a notice of what your costume will be so she won't flip out seeing a random 'monster' in the crowd."

"Batman is NOT a monster! He's a superhero, okay?"

You stand up at the indignity of what she just said, crossing your arms in a menacing pose. Lyra ignores you as she walks back over to where you are and starts playing with your cape once more. You see Bon Bon stepping back as Fluttershy finally stirs.

"So what are you two going as?" you ask Lyra.

"I'm going to be the first infected!" Lyra tells you as she hangs onto your cape, swinging back and forth. "Wheeee!"

"And I'll be the first victim," Bon Bon says, taking a seat in a chair. "Lyra will start to pale overtime throughout the night until she _changes_, while I stay nearby so she can eat me."

…You don't comment on that. You see Fluttershy starting to sit up, rubbing her head.

"Oooh… I just had the _worst_ dream of meeting a scary, dark, horrible monster standing in the rooaaAAAHHHHHHH!"

Aaaand she faints once more. Perfect. Bon Bon sighs to herself, trying to wake her up once again as Lyra continues to swing along on your cape. You hope tonight fairs well for you.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~ Canterlot ~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

You are Luna, and you're currently sitting inside your throne room with absolutely nothing to do. The night started several hours early, meaning you were in charge for the rest of the night. And just like every year, there will be no work to be done. Celestia, as usual, went off somewhere for some time alone since it's rare that either of you got any free time to yourselves.

She's probably locked away in some room, enjoying her sweets with some music and a good book.

All the preparations have been made for tonight already, leaving you waiting to go to Ponyville. There are other towns that were hoping you'd arrive there to meet them, but you never made a final decision to where you'd be going until the day you went. And this year, you'll be going back to Ponyville. You needed to investigate some things and to gather some intel from certain ponies.

You hear a clipping of hooves from down the hallway. You can see Sunshine Smiles walking up to you with two night guards standing at either side of him. Your captain turns to the two guards, speaking to them briefly before they exit the room immediately. He greets you with a salute, which you nod your head at.

"Princess Luna, all arrangements have been made for our contacts to be met upon arrival outside of Ponyville. I personally volunteer myself to collect it for you, your highness."

"There's no need for that, I can do it myself."

He bows down in acknowledgment to your orders. "Other than that, I have a letter addressed to you from Ponyville." He uses a simple levitation spell on his armor, slipping out a letter that's hidden in his croupiere. "It was sent to Celestia, which is why you did not receive it when it first arrived."

Levitating it over, you quickly open it up and read it.

…

_Interesting, so the alien is going to be set up in a costume?_ You smirk, reading the description of it being dressed as a bat. Lyra must be trying to butter you up before you arrive there. And a zombie run! It's been so long since you've been a part of one of those!

"Hmm…"

You _were_ originally going to meet Lyra near the end of the night, but maybe you'll change that now.

"Captain, there's been a change of plans. You'll be gathering the intel from the ponies on the outskirts of Ponyville, and you will be taking my guards with you. Afterwards, you will immediately head back here to go over it and have it prepared when I come back."

"Princess Luna… is that really such a safe thing to do, what with the rebellious ponies still out there and with no guards to protect you?"

"Your worry for my safety is duly noted, but not needed, captain. I am assured that they would not attempt anything directly to me."

This will also get the guards away from you. It's a bit of a pain, having them stay behind the scenes and watching over you. This'll give you full mobility to do what you want tonight. Getting up from your seat, Sunshine Smiles leads you to the carriage that will be transporting you to Ponyville.

Riding in your carriage is a relaxing pleasure you like to do whenever you had the chance. You got to look up at your night and enjoy it in peace. You sometimes like to play around with your stars, trying to come up with new ideas on how to allow your subjects a better view during the night, to better appreciate it. Playing with one of your star clusters that were built to form an everlasting glow of colors, you don't notice the carriage descending on the outskirts of Ponyville until you start to see the trees.

Once the carriage lands, you quickly got out of it. Sunshine Smiles is standing before you in a stiff stance, awaiting your orders.

"You know what needs to be done, captain. Get that intel and quickly return back to the palace. I want that information in proper order by the time I get back."

"Yes, your highness," Sunshine Smiles says, saluting to you before heading back to the carriage.

He quickly orders the guards there to follow him out to their destination as you make your way to Ponyville.

You could have flown in to speed your arrival, but a nice walk every now and then is another thing you enjoy. Coming into Ponyville, you can see the festivities have already begun. The streets and buildings are littered with different props and decorations to celebrate the night away, along with some music playing and games here and there. The many ponies all around you are dressed up in different costumes and outfits, and many more with little baggies of treats filled inside.

A small group of them walk right by you. Since you're in the dark, the shadows easily hide you from their view. But one filly notices you, and immediately shrieks, announcing your presence to her group. They immediately run away from you in fright, unaware that it was just you standing there.

It's a bit of a pain, having that happen. It's like this every year, and although it's for fun, it still makes you uneasy.

It was nice of Celestia to make this holiday in the first place during your _absence_. Celestia lengthened the nights around this time when you were banished, to honor you and your wish for the night, even though it was a selfish one. You let out a small chuckle, looking at the ponies all around. Celestia had not intended for the holiday to be so… festive. But that's how your subjects are. Always full of life and wonder; even in your age, you're still learning much about this.

_Well, I best get this over with and find the alien._ All the ponies stare at you, with a few giving bows, but most giving you waves and smiles. You're still used to all the ponies immediately bowing to you and your sister… treating you like gods. _That's most likely where you first started going corrupt_, you think to yourself as you walk down the streets of Ponyville.

You shake those thoughts from your head. It's best not to remember those memories. Many of the ponies came up to greet you and ask some questions, like how it was to be a princess or if their costume is nice. It's the same thing every year, but it was a repetitive type of fun you like. Though, you were expecting Pinkie to have jumped out and be 'frightened' by now.

…In fact, where _are_ those elements? You should've bumped into one by now. Maybe they w-

"Oomph!"

You stop in your tracks once you feel somepony colliding head first into your side. Looking down, you see…

Well, well, well… It's Lyra. You can see her getting up to her legs as she blinks a few times to herself before looking at you. She looks awfully pale for some reason… Probably from realizing what she did, and just what you might also be here for.

Lyra lets out a small groan, rubbing her head. "Hello, Princess Luna," she says in a very weak greeting. She's barely capable of standing herself up. Maybe she's had too much to drink?

She should've moderated her drinks better... She knew you were coming out tonight! You can see Bon Bon walking up to her and picking her up before turning her attention to you.

"P-princess Luna! Good evening! Um... how was your trip here?"

"It was uneventful, as usual."

"Your, um… your guards aren't here, are they?"

That's a bit of a strange question. Oh, wait… she must be wondering if you're here to take the 'alien' away.

"No, I am alone on this venture out here," you reply, looking down at her.

She's barely capable of keeping Lyra standing, and… is she paler now? It was amusing before, but you don't mean to impose such fright in her. _She must be really worried about her situation_, you think to yourself.

"Bon… Bon… It's n-nearly t…"

"Oh, right! Is there anything else you need, Princess?"

_Now's a good time as any to see their work, whether Lyra's up for it or not._ You may even get something out of this and stop it, which can help out your sister's stress.

"Yes, I would like to see this 'alien' of yours, if you don't mind."

Bon Bon blinks at you before nearly slipping from Lyra's stumbling about. She quickly picks her back up before turning her head behind her and points a hoof in a direction.

"He should be down there, showing off his costume to some of the fillies."

Showing off… his costume? Just before Bon Bon leaves with her friend, you stop them with a questioning look.

"Well, I'd like to see the alien."

"…Okay?"

…

"Aren't you going to be needed there to show it to me?"

"_He_ is fully capable of introducing himself to you. We've already told him a while back all that he needs to know if you or Princess Celestia was to ever meet him. Now, if there is nothing else, I need to help Lyra out further down that road… Much, much further down…"

Stepping to the side, you allow them to walk away with a very confused look on your face. They have the alien set up to introduce itself?

…Wait. WAIT! _NOW_ you have it! They must've spelled up an automaton to move by itself! You let out a smirk, heading off in the direction of their 'alien'. This is going to be easier than you thought! Automaton magic is only capable of allowing a subject to do simple tasks, but they're easy to confuse and even self-destruct if overloaded. With how poorly this is assured to go, you can return to the palace and stop the scenarios! You just need to make sure your meeting with it does not look like sabotage.

It doesn't take long before you're met with a much bigger crowd of your subjects strewn all over the place. And in the far corner, you can see-

Sweet Solaire, what _is_ that?!

The being towers over a group of fillies, grabbing its cape and flaring it out with a menacing look. Its body is completely covered in a black cloth that downright sends shivers down your spine. _Lyra really outdid herself here. When I read she was giving this thing a bat costume, I never imagined she'd go so far out of her way._ _It's obvious that she put a lot of effort making it-_

Somepony bumps into you, forcing you from your thoughts. The pony quickly apologizes before running off to some friends. Right, you better get this over with so you can enjoy the rest of the night. Walking up to the being, you can see it's standing still as the little fillies run around it, swinging on its cape or poking at the costume.

As soon as you arrive, the fillies take notice of you and immediately run away in mock fright. You know it's not real by the way their screams turned into laughter as they ran off. Looking at the alien, you see it turn its head to you. The automatons eyes widen, looking at you.

"H-hello there," the 'alien' speaks. His strange voice surprises you momentarily. "You must be Princess… Celestia?"

You shake your head at the being, shoving the anger from hearing that away. You have eyes on you right now, so you can't look angered.

"No, I am Princess Luna. I was down in Ponyville when I thought to check up on you, since you are the resident alien, after all."

Dear goodness, you feel so stupid right now, talking to a spelled-up dummy! But you need to do this right; this may be your only shot.

"I apologize; I should've realized who you are with how you look." You raise your brow, hearing that. "N-not that there's anything _wrong_ with how you look…"

The repugnant little puppet chuckles before rubbing the back of its head. The action's more advanced than the usual automatons you're used to; Lyra must've went all out on its creation.

"To be blunt, I'm surprised that I haven't been met by either you or your sister by now, what with me being an alien to your people."

You see your subjects from the side, looking at you while talking to one another. That… does look a bit odd, doesn't it?

"Both Celestia and myself have many duties that we must attend to, making it difficult to speak to you."

That should do for a proper excuse, especially since it's one that both of you use all the time.

"Still, when I talked to Lyra about this, it felt strange that you didn't call for me to come up to the palace to meet either of you."

Did Lyra program this thing to make you look stupid? Looking once more at your subjects, you see them tal-

You stop your trail of thoughts, immediately picking something out from the crowd of ponies around you. There isn't a single unicorn here!

Usually there'd at least be a few in the crowd, but there's not a single one here! Well… this is a great turn of events, leaving you feeling lucky at the opportunity here. Only a unicorn would actually pick up something like you trying to force it to self-destruct. A simple math question should do the trick.

"I have a question that I need you to answer: There are six apples. I take three and you take two. How many are left?"

"…Uuuuh …What?"

You repeat the question to the automaton, waiting for an answer. It's clear to you that the thing is already overloading from having to do anything other than what its intended purpose is.

"Oh… this is about how Lyra tested me for mathematical intelligence, isn't it?" he asks, rubbing his neck. "I swear she sent in that second test that was a bit more proper…"

This thing seems a lot more intelligent than an automaton should be. Its vocabulary is even above what you've been able to do with your own creations, even if it comes out heavily accented and hard to hear sometimes.

"I suppose I'll have to talk to Lyra about giving that to you," the thing sighs out, rubbing the bridge of its nose. "The answer is obviously one apple."

_W-what?! It's not supposed to be able to answer that at all! Automatons don't have actual brain functions! What do I do now? Um…_ _Come on, think! Think-think-think-think… think…_

No use, your mind's too blank at the moment from confusion. Just what is this thing? Could Lyra be remotely controlling it somehow? No, then you'd see her aura around it. _Come on, think!_ What did she do? Feeling a nudge in your leg, you look over to your side and see a filly looking up to you, this one wearing a wolf costume.

"Princess Luna, can we play with Anonymous now? He was showing us his cool gadgets!"

You're still too confused at the situation, so you slowly nod at the filly. She jumps in glee before running up to… whatever this thing is. You watch the two interact until the costumed… whatever this is, pulls something out of its belt and shoots it out at one of the buildings, quickly propelling it into the air and away from you. Gasps can be heard from the crowd as they all 'ooh' at his action, many of them following where it went off to.

Automatons… are not capable of complex movements like that either… Just what is this thing? You give it some thought standing there, trying to remember anything from the documents that can answer this.

Lyra never stated how she went about making this thing for her pictures, so maybe it's not a dummy. It couldn't be one spelled up to move on its own, that's for sure. So maybe she hired a minotaur to shave itself and act the part? Yeah, that can make sense. She'd take a chunk out of her pay and give some to-

Wait… No, it _can't_ be a minotaur. They're too prideful of their horns. They'd never have those taken off even if they can grow them back slowly after a while. And they're usually adorned with rings on their body somewhere. The only other bipedal creature you know of right now is that new race of cats, but she's had this thing for over two months now.

…It's not like its real… right? I-it's not possible to _really_ make contact.

Oh my, you seem to have started to breathe a bit harder than you intended to. Were you having a panic attack just then? It might be very, VERY bad for both you and your sister if this thing really IS an alien.

Before you can think more on this, you hear a loud scream, interrupting your thoughts. You thought it was just another frightened subject having some fun until you hear several more screams. And these aren't the screams of fright you're used to; this sounds more like somepony needs help!

You quickly run off to where the screaming is coming from to see if you can help the situation. Several ponies run past you, many of them looking scared out of their wits. All of a sudden, you hear one of them screaming something about zombies…

"Are you kidding me?"

Seriously… You got worked up for _that_? You thought there was an emergency going on! That screaming sounded like true fright coming from them, and while zombies may be scary, they're not _that_ scary.

You slowed your steps down, watching as many of the ponies continued running past you. It doesn't take long until you finally met this 'zombie' that everypony's running away from. Well, it's multiple zombies actually. They're spread out all over the place, stumbling from place to place. You let out a chuckle, looking at the crowd.

It's been such a good long time that somepony set up a zombie run! You really love these; they had them all the time back before you were banished. You have to remember the rules though, and that's not to get bitten or you'll turn. The horror genre is such a small thing, but you know everything there is to know about it. Especially zombies.

They're very in character too. Since there's nopony around, they went back to 'eat' the brains on their victims and everything! Slowly walking up to one of them, you take a peek at them feasting. Yes, it's a dumb decision to do that, but you wanted to see them up close.

…

You are now running away from the hoard of beasts now chasing you down. Those are NOT REGULAR ZOMBIES!

They're supposed to be green with some of their fur maybe shaved off in spots, eating the brains of their victims. Those abominations were bucking eating their flesh! And they look like they were eaten from as well! You know for a FACT that zombies do NOT eat flesh! How in the world did they manage to get themselves to look so… terrifying?! It's best not to think of that right now, you have a run to participate in. Besides, the extra scare factor adds more fun to this!

Thankfully, they're not fast, so it's easy to get away from them. You did meet some ponies that were still in the streets. These ponies are much slower than you, and are quickly piled on by the ravenous beings. Each pony's screams are quickly muffled away by the undead unicorns before you hear the crunching of bones and the tearing of flesh. You shudder at the sounds, looking at the scene.

Looks like you found where all the unicorns were…

Right now, you're hiding in the bakery with a small group of ponies. You wound up in here after finding a group of ponies still in the game and deciding to follow them. You wish you hadn't since this is now a tad boring being here. Many of them are crying or frightened, uncertain about what to do. Looking at them, you see a disorganized mess of your subjects hiding away inside this shop. With boredom seeping in, you decided that you need to make this at least interesting.

"Listen up everypony," you suddenly speak out, making them jump. "There's a crisis going on out there in town, and I need you all to be as calm and collected as possible."

Ooh, this is so much fun! It's really hard to keep your smile wiped off your face. They seem to be coming to their senses, their attention directed at you. They probably feel safer, knowing you're here.

"Now, let's take stock of the situation at hoof here." You point at a stallion sitting off to one side. "You, I want you to write up a list of everypony that's here, along with special talents."

The room was packed with your subjects, so it's difficult seeing who all is there. The stallion comes back, giving you a list of everypony here. Looking it over, you don't see anything of value in their talents for this situation. Even more disconcerting, not a single unicorn is here in the shop. That leaves you with no unicorns to help protect them. You mentally smack yourself after thinking that. Of _course_ there wouldn't be any, they're all participating as zombies. If this was the real thing, they'd all be dinner by now.

"P-princess?" you hear out in the crowd of ponies. "Shouldn't we discuss the zombies, and how w-we should go about fixing this?"

Ah yes, the cure. If one can be found, that pony wins the zombie run. But you want to play this out like it was the real thing some more first. A little roleplaying never hurt, and it sure is fun to do!

"We should probably figure out how to get around them first, or we'll end up like them," you say with the utmost confidence, lifting your head up in a regal manner.

And they totally buy it! It seems like what you said got them all riled up, trying to find something to say about the zombies.

"Well, they're very slow, so it should be easy enough to get around them."

"But there's so many; I can't imagine getting by them will be as easy as you think."

"What about flying?"

"There's some pegasus zombies out there, and I saw them flying even though it was slow."

You stand there, listening to them converse with one another. It's better to let them talk this out without you interfering right now. Some of this can be useful. Of course, it led to what you expected to hear eventually.

"What about the cure? Do you have any idea where it would be located?" one of your subjects ask you.

"No, I don't." They all groan hearing that. "So we should split up into groups and look for it. Anypony that doesn't want to be a part of this, stay hidden here and keep the doors locked. I should probably go by myself since I give an unfair advantage to any group I am in."

"But where should we first look?!"

"We need to find the source of the outbreak!"

"Hey, yeah! By doing that, we can use magic and cure everypony!"

"But… we don't have any unicorns that can use magic for this…"

"Well, maybe the cure doesn't NEED magic; it just needs something like an antidote!"

Ah yes, the modern times have changed the original idea on how zombification can be cured. Now you just need some medicinal stuff most of the time.

"Alright, so that just leaves trying to find the original infected. Does anypony have any clues as to who that could be?"

Your subjects discuss the day's events, trying to find something that can point out who to look for.

"Wait… I remember seeing Lyra wobbling about a bit ago."

"I did too, but I just thought she had too much salt."

"No, she was also really pale and saying something about feeling pain."

You wait there for a few minutes, letting them discuss this some more. You've been in this shop for over an hour now, and the longer you take, the more this will spread. And the less of a chance you'll have at winning this yourself.

"I will go to Lyra's and see if there are any clues," you call out. "I doubt there will be anything there, so some of you should look elsewhere."

"Okay then, just don't hurt any of the zombies!"

"And don't forget to find Lyra!"

"Or the alien!"

Just as you're about to open the door, you stop hearing that. "…Why would I go looking for that thing?"

"…Beeeecause he's our friend? And he might be frightened out there with all the zombies!"

"And he's not a thing, he's an alien!"

"And he's also very fun to be around."

"And those hands of his!"

All the mares sigh, hearing that… and even a few stallions. You wonder what _that's_ about. You stand there, listening to the different praises they had for 'Anonymous'. Shaking your head, you open the door and immediately close it before taking to the skies.

You can be happy for the fact that many of the pegasi can't easily see you in the night. But just to be safe, you use a spell that warps more darkness over your body. Arriving at Lyra's house, you slowly descend to the second story window. It would be risky to go through the front of the door with all the infected down there.

Looking through the window, you don't see anypony moving around. You quickly teleport inside and immediately start looking around the room. You go through anything that could show how Lyra got infected, any clue would be helpful. You finally come across a diary of some sorts with the name 'Alien' written on it. Maybe Lyra put something in here?

_day one of diary_

_lyra forcing me to write in this and any thoughts ive should be collected she said to me_

_ii find it a of a pain but ii said yes with her_

_she told me to write in their words _

_it is difficult to do but she said for practice to get better_

_she said that ii would be the only one looking in this unless ii say so or if its askeed for_

_at least magic horse is giving me some privacy thats good_

_at this time its been over a week being here in this land of make believe_

_ii still find it hard to get over the fact that im even here_

_writing is still difficult so ii am stopping for now_

_What is this?_ you think to yourself. _Is… is this the alien's diary?_ You quickly skim a few pages, seeing what else this 'Anonymous' has written.

_Day why am I here?_

_Lyra insists I stay at apple farm for another week! This time, it's with a rainbow colored pony named Rainbow Dash._

_I'd rather stay away from the farm with Big Mac there, that stallion seems really needy._

_Rainbow Dash is an interesting character to be around. She even showed me that she can manipulate weather!_

_That's really neat! At least my week with her won't be boring. Not that my time so far has been boring._

_The time at the farm, along with the ponies moving me about has kept me well distracted from thinking about home._

_I'm feeling a bit homesick, and each day that goes by adds more to that feeling._

_I can't be sure if there is a way to get back ho_

_I have to leave. Lyra's taking me to a lake now. She has a box with her too. I wonder what that's for?_

You read through more of the pages, realizing quickly that this is in fact the alien's diary of its time here. It seems to improve overtime on its writing skills, you notice. Celestia… she's not going to be happy when you tell her about the alien and its existence. Wait, you're supposed to be finding stuff about a cure, not this! This can wait! Just as you were about to close the diary, an entry immediately catches your eye, and it's the last one.

_Day Nightmare Night in Equestria._

_I really need to write the actual day count in these things._

_All the preparations have been made for tonight. I have my costume on and the zombie event is still on._

_Lyra will be the first to turn. Peppy has all the unicorns already to be turned at his command._

_I'm just glad they won't come after me since I'm an 'alien', after all. It'll be amusing to watch them move away from me as I walk through them._

_I was given a vial that's supposed to be used as the 'cure'._

_It can only work if both Lyra and I are together. I suppose walking around the town as this goes on will give these ponies a chance to find me… if they do at all, that is._

_It'll all be moot once the town hall's clock bell rings at midnight, leaving the cure unusable._

_I hope these ponies can take my worlds' zombies well enough._

…

Ooh boy, so the alien came up with these zombies? You wondered why they're so terrifying to look at. Well, that's something to look into later. Right now, you have an alien to find and force to give you his part of the cure. You only have…

Looking at a clock on the wall, you see you only have thirty minutes left! You need to find both of them, fast! Af-

A banging outside the door alerts you to somepony outside. Closing the diary, you walk over to the door. You find the door locked. Using your magic, you quickly unlock it before cracking it open. Nopony there. Walking out, you slowly make your way to the room across from you. There, you can see one of your elements currently tied up in some rope, hanging in the air. What's she doing here while this is going on?

"Fluttershy!"

The mare jumps, hearing your voice. She quickly turns her head to you, surprise on her face.

"P-princess Luna! W-what are _you_ doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Fluttershy."

She quickly cowers down at you, her fear of you evident. You wish she'd get some confidence in herself... Wait… maybe she knows where the alien is? You're doubtful, but she was also searching through here herself, so maybe she found something.

"Fluttershy, where is the alien? I've been looking all over town for him"

"Anon? H-he's downstairs right now, taking a break before going back out to doing whatever he was doing… I'm not sure why he'd be out there in all _that_ though…"

Sighing to yourself at Fluttershy's oblivious nature, you quickly magic her out of the ropes. She quickly scampers into the room… before getting caught in another thing of ropes, binding her once more in the air. Rolling your eyes, you magic her once more out of them. This time, she manages _not_ to get strung up before she locks herself inside the bathroom.

For a second there, you thought that you'd have to look all over town for him. How convenient that he's downstairs right now. At least you can get this part done with ease. Looking around, you find the alien sitting by himself in the kitchen, drinking something. Upon noticing you, he slowly sets his drink down. _He probably knows what you're here for_, you think to yourself as you walk up to the table.

"Hello, Princess Luna," he greets you calmly.

"I'm here for your part in the cure."

He looks quite shocked, hearing that.

"Oh wow, I didn't think any of you ponies would find any of the clues that Peppy set out for that!" he says with a strange accent you find hard to hear, and yet almost charming at the same time.

"Seriously, when he told me that you guys thought that _magic_ would help with the cure, I honestly laughed a little at that… Well, fuck, looks like he was right after all." He pokes around on his belt before producing a vial with something in it. "This is it. I have to administer it once you find the pony that was originally infected. Have you f-"

"It's Lyra."

He laughs at what you said.

"Of course, I should've realized you of all the ponies would've figured that out since she _is_ my caretaker, after all." Before you can say anything else, you hear the front door slamming open. "Looks like the zombies are here… I guess we better get going, then."

Standing up, the alien walks around the table and towards the door. You follow him closely and hope what he said in his diary about him keeping the zombies away is true. The zombies that were banging on the door and walls immediately recede away from the alien, giving him a small perimeter of empty space around him. You quickly get into it, making sure to stay close by.

"So princess, where do you want to go?"

"…Wherever Lyra is right now."

"I haven't the slightest clue where she is right now."

"Where would she _usually_ be then?"

"Dunno, she's a zombie right now. For all I know, she's eating someone else at the moment."

You sigh to yourself hearing that. "Then take a guess where she would've gone then," you tell him.

Shrugging his shoulders, he heads off to the town center. The zombies give you a clearing wherever he went.

"I figured that there would be a few more ponies out here… huh. Guess they're too frightened to come out. You must really want this prize."

You stare at him, currently wondering just how this alien came about to your town. How should you break this to Celestia?

The alien walks up to a stand, making you confused. Pushing himself over it, you can hear him sigh before grabbing at something. He comes back up with a hideously deformed Lyra… covered in smoothies. Her engorged belly shows just how much she's eaten so far.

"Well, here she is. I guess you-"

A loud clanging could be heard all across the area. The zombies immediately stop, hearing the noise.

"…Darn it"

"You almost had it there, Princess Luna," you hear the alien tell you, as if to mock at your effort.

"Yeah, there's always next year!" you hear Lyra spout out.

Staring at her disgusting costume, you see it's starting to move around… how grotesque. Her body starts to morph, fixing it back to how it should look originally. Soon, all that's left is the pale look she had before all this happened. That must be makeup. You can hear a loud roar of cheering filling the air. Looking around, you see all the ponies bodies morphing back to their original states before the outbreak earlier this night. They all started to dance around, cheering all over the place. You see a pony come out of nowhere and walk up to you with a package of some type.

"Princess Luna! Who would have thought that you would get so into this zombie run!"

The cheering seems to die off real quick so that they can hear what this pony has to say.

"Now, for anypony that doesn't know, this one was based off Anonymous's own zombies from his home planet, which is why they're so much scarier!"

Ooh's and ah's can be heard from all the ponies.

"I put out clues to where the cure was, but it seems Princess Luna was the only one to not only find them, but to also find that they led to Anon and Lyra! Congratulations on that by the way, they weren't easy to find!"

The cheering picks up real quick, many of them congratulating you on a good job.

"Sorry you couldn't win, but as a consolation prize you will be receiving specially made, human invented socks in many different colors to take back home!"

The ponies started to cheer once more as the pony saying this gives you a package containing whatever it is he said. You're too flabbergasted at the moment to respond properly. Just what _are_ socks?

"I hope this year's zombie run didn't frighten you too badly, your highness." He quickly turns to the crowd of ponies looking at you holding your package. "And for all those interested, I have several more costumes based off the alien's ideas that will be up for sale in due time!"

And more cheering. You stand there as all the ponies cheered at you, jumping around and having a good time.

With all the hysteria now gone, all the ponies go back to their previous activities of running their stands for games or going out to get candy. This was a pretty fun year for you. The entire run, this terrifying experience, it all came from the mind of the alien?

...

Wait, THE ALIEN'S A REAL ALIEN! With the 'zombie run' over with, the thought of it being real hit you like a ton of bricks. This is bad, so very bad… Here you and your sister are treating the alien like an experiment when you should have been giving it more respect than that!

…Well, technically he _was_ an experiment, but that's beside the point. True, alien contact… Both you and Celestia really bucked up on this. You held back for the rest of the evening, watching the human interact with your subjects. He would talk to you every now and then, giving you a chance to ask him different questions.

It probably made him feel awkward what you asked him, but you wanted to make sure he wasn't going to unleash a pack of his planet's creations to do his bidding and create chaos. You just wanted to be sure…

You wait until the festivities started to die down before actually confronting the alien. He's over in a corner alone, speaking with Lyra and Bon Bon. Walking up to them, they quickly stop their conversation once they notice you.

"Anonymous," you greet him with a nod. "Once again, I'm happy to have finally met you here tonight."

"I'm glad to have met you too," he says in a polite manner.

"I was just about to head off to the palace when I realized that my sister would most likely want to meet you, so I'd like to invite you to the palace as my guest."

She's definitely going to want to meet him as soon as possible, since you can confirm he's real and not a 'scenario'. The look on his face is hard to read with his mask on, but he seems surprised to hear that.

"R-really?"

"Yes, really," you reply with a smirk. "I can have a guest room set up for you so that in the morning you can meet my sister when she is up."

You hear a clopping of hooves off to your side. Looking over, you see Lyra clapping.

"Eeeeh! We get to go to the palace, Anon! Won't that be fun!"

"Um, I o-"

"We better pack some clothes up, Lyra," Bon Bon interrupts you.

"Wait, I only m-"

"We better be quick girls, I don't think the princess wants to be kept waiting on us."

The three of them quickly leave to pack some clothes, leaving you standing there somewhat flustered. You only meant to take Anon. But… you would feel very rude not to invite the other two, especially with the alien there. They quickly come back with their travel cases for the trip.

...

"Why are you still wearing your costume?" you ask the alien.

"I thought it would be quicker to change when we get there… It's really time consuming to take this thing off."

"Ah. Well, couldn't you just go naked like us?"

From what you can see on his face, it turns red. "I don't like to go naked, Princess Luna. It makes me feel… uncomfortable."

"Very well, it is up to you," you reply.

There isn't much to argue about anyways. Without further ado, you quickly bring them to the outskirts of the town to where your carriage should be.

"…Ah, buck."

You forgot you don't have your guards here, meaning no carriage...

"…I hope none of you mind traveling by magic."

Lyra's eyes widen to enormous levels as a grin spreads across her face. "Just make sure you don't put magic into Anon's head, Princess Luna!"

Bon Bon doesn't look very excited, and the alien seems confused. You don't give them a chance to reply. Flashing your magic, you quickly levitate the three of them before taking off into the air. The yelping you heard back there forced a small chuckle out of you.

"I hope you three don't mind… but I want to get there quickly."

And now you're flying as fast as you can, forcing them to scream the whole way. It doesn't take no more than a few minutes to get there. When you arrive, the three of them quickly fall on their faces. They tried getting back up, but end back on the ground once more for their troubles. Maybe you went a _tad_ too fast for them…

Lyra sits up, her eyes swirling around in a circle. "That. Was. AWESOME! Do it again, do it again!"

"Lyra," the alien speaks up, "not right now."

You wait a few minutes for them to stop feeling dizzy. As soon as they're feeling better, you quickly escort them through the halls, trying to find a maid around here for them. You would have your guards do it, but you'd rather they keep guarding and stay in uniform. It's one of the things you like seeing around here.

The night guards are surprised to see you back so early. They stand at attention, giving you crisp salutes as you walk past them. Turning a corner, you're met by your captain. He quickly salutes, standing at attention.

"Your highness, I got word of-"

He stops, looking past you and at your 'guests'. Oh, you can use him!

"Captain, these are my guests at the palace and I want you to treat them with respect."

"Uh… Y-yes, your highness," he says, saluting to you.

"Very good. Now, I want you to take them and place them in a guest room for the night so that they may meet my sister in the morning."

"Very well, your highness." He walks up to you, moving his head in. "And what about… the intel?" he whispers to you.

"You may have it ready in my chambers to look at. I must go see to my sister at the moment, so please make sure that my guests are set up for the night."

He gives you one last salute before walking up to them. You quickly make your way down the hall towards where your sister is most likely at. Quickly arriving at your sister's quarters, you order the guards to let you in and nopony is to interrupt you at all. Not that there's any chance of that happening at night, but it's best to be careful. They open the doors with you entering, and then closing shut. You can see Celestia's in her bed right now, sleeping with some relaxing music currently playing.

Going over to the music player, you shut it off before turning around, facing Celestia. She quickly notices it's you, and not an intruder, powering down whatever spell she was about to blast you with.

You can see your sister with a confused look on her face staring at you.

"Luna! What is the meaning of this?!"

Celestia… she's not going to like this one bit…

"Sister, I bear bad news about the alien from Ponyville…"

~End Chapter Eleven~


	13. Chapter Twelve - Too Long Of A Title

Chapter Twelve – This Chapter Had A Title, But Due To Copyright Infringement It Has Been Expunged

Your sister Celestia is currently standing outside on the balcony with you. She hasn't moved from her spot in quite a while now. She's still probably taking in what you just told her.

When you busted into her room, Celestia thought something major was going down. You never bug her like this unless it's for something extremely important. After calming Celestia down, you told her about what happened tonight. She found it funny that you took the zombie run so seriously. Your sister should know that they were one of your favorite things to do during Nightmare Night.

It took a good while to tell your sister that the alien was in fact real and not fake. It took longer to calm her down afterwards. You had to tell her slowly so she wouldn't have a panic attack. Her last one was pretty catastrophic, to say the least.

So now you and your sister are staring out at the stars while thinking about what's needed to be done.

"Luna," you sister says. "Just how bucked do you think we currently are?"

"I'd say a fair bit."

"Ah." Celestia continues looking off in thought, staring at the sky. "…Do you have any idea how we can fix this?"

"I have a few ideas that you're probably thinking of already."

"Hmm…" You stare at her, waiting to see what she wants done. "…We need to talk to this… _alien_ and see it for ourselves." She turns her head at you. "Well, I need to anyways since you've already seen it."

"Just make sure to give _him_ the same tolerance you give everypony else, sister." Before your sister can say anything, you raise a hoof stopping her. "I know that you still feel very repulsed with the alien being around. He _does_ look like those ancient beings you despise so much. Just… try to look past what he looks like, okay?"

"…Of course, sister." The two of you turn back to the stars that glow across your beautiful night. "You've outdone yourself this night, Luna."

"I just wanted to make sure this night would be remembered."

"And it certainly will be remembered."

You can't help but think she's referring to the alien. Still, the night certainly is something to watch.

"We'll need to schedule an immediate meeting with the alien."

Ah, you're glad that you brought them over when you came back now.

"Not to worry, sister. I've invited them as guests when I came back so you'll be able to meet them in the morning."

"W-what?!" she replies loudly. "That's _too_ early! I meant in a few days when I have some idea on how to deal with this and after the council was talked to!"

Oh buck, you forgot about the council.

"…Oops?"

Celestia sighs, slumping her head down. "There's not much we can do about it now. I'll… try and think of something. We'll also need to use a rejuvenation spell for tomorrow."

"_We_?"

"Of course. You don't think I'm going to speak to this thing by myself, did you? You'll be there as… moral support!" She just doesn't want to do this alone. "We'll also need to talk to the council afterwards about this."

There goes your plan of sleeping the entire day away. You rarely have any more than four hours of sleep a day. Not that you really need any more than that since you're an alicorn, but it would've been nice to do all the same.

"Come, sister," Celestia says walking back into her room. "We need to go to my studies and review all of Lyra's work on the alien before we talk to it."

"Him."

"Right, I meant that."

The two of you quickly make your way down the halls. Your guards make sure to keep their bearing as you pass them by. Once you reach the study room, Celestia immediately walks over to her hidden compartments for Lyra's work. Pulling it out, she places it on the table for the two of you to work on. A maid came by with some tea and snacks for the two of you before leaving, giving you something to keep awake.

You look at one of the packets, overlooking what Lyra's recently written as Celestia looks over her own stack of documents. As time progresses through the night, you see your sister getting more frustrated.

"Luna," she says after passing her stack of papers onto a pile. "There's so much that Lyra's done which makes me question why I appointed her to this without anypony looking over it."

What you've seen as of recent has been improved with more properly thorough work… but that was after other ponies came into the picture.

"Just look at this," Celestia says passing you some papers. "Here, she's testing his intelligence on math using _pudding_. PUDDING!"

"She _has_ done a fairly good job here," you reply looking at the papers, "even if it's a bit queer to see it done so unconventionally."

Celestia throws another folder at you to read. You catch it with magic, looking it over. "And here, she spent nearly an entire day discussing the benefits of human fashioned _socks_!"

"Oh! I got some of those as a consolation prize from the run!"

Now if you could just remember where you put them. Did you leave them in your sister's room?

Your sister continuously passes over document after document on Lyra and every problem that came from them. Overall… it could've been dealt with better.

"Maybe I should get somepony else to look over the alien. I could give him to Twilight."

"You can't just give somepony away, Celestia. Also, he's extremely attached to Lyra and Bon Bon. I'm not so certain he'd go along with that willingly, Celestia."

"It just looks so bad that THIS is what came of watching him! He needs to be more thoroughly looked at. There's so much that hasn't been done…" She slaps another document in front of you, this one about Anonymous's time in Ponyville. "For Solaire's sakes, he has a job as a _masseuse_! WHY IS HE WORKING THERE?!"

"It might have to do with the funding you took away from Lyra, Celestia," you answer looking through the document.

"O-oh, right."

You let out a sigh looking over the documents. Celestia's getting too stressed out.

"Sister, you need to remember that in the end this is just another being you'll be talking to. And whatever happens at the council happens. It's not like they'll DO anything to you… not that they can, that is."

They're only there to make sure any decisions either of you make are checked through and won't affect something that may have been missed. They also bring up things for the two of you to look at, but that's about all they do. They don't have the power to do anything to you two directly.

"Just remember not to force anything on the… _human_. If you offer anything, give him the option to go along with it like you would anypony else. The meeting should be fine, Celestia."

"This is such a mess! How will this _look_, Luna?!"

That's the problem right now. Celestia worked hard making sure everypony was happy and that she was looked at as somepony to look up to. Celestia feels she needs to be perfect in the eyes of her ponies. You can't really care too much about it, what with your already bad image from before.

But… you're fine with _that_. You don't want to add stupidity to the list of things ponies thought of when they see or think of you.

"We just need to treat this with care, Celestia. Convincing the council to keep quiet about this is a must." You grab a stack of documents before levitating some papers and 'pens'. "And the first thing we need to do is write more… appropriate evaluations of the last two months."

"Y-you're saying we should delete our previous work like it _never happened_! But… that would be lying!"

"A small lie that no pony but a few would ever know about, Celestia."

"There's so much we would need to do, though! How do we explain in this that Lyra's the proper pony to handle this? Or that we took funding away so he'd have to work there _rubbing ponies_!"

"Sister, you're being too overdramatic," you titter at her. "It's not like anypony will be seeing these documents other than the council, you, me, and a few others that will be working with the alien."

Celestia looks away from you, scrunching her face up.

"…Right?"

"I… _may_ have allowed Twilight the use of the documents to write a book on the alien."

_You've gotta be kidding me!_ you think to yourself.

"You can tell her that you had to change your mind and keep them, right?"

"...I also approved it with the council since they thought a book about all this would be good for future work..." You let out a loud groan, thumping your head down on the table. "B-but it's not for another month that she'll be seeing the documents! We can fix this!"

Why does your sister allow Twilight so much freedom? She really needs to learn to treat Twilight more like her subjects and not like a daughter.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Anon's POV – Two Hours Prior~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Princess Luna just walked off in a hurry, leaving you and the two mares with someone that Luna put in charge of you three. Looking at him, you see he has a grey body and looks like a bat. He has wings that almost look like a bat as well. He's also completely clad in dark armor colored in different shades of purple throughout it. The fairly large pony wore a helmet that has a mohawk motif that matches his wings.

It's the same with the other guards around him, except his armor is different in some areas. It's more intricately designed and just looks really badass. Not that the other guards don't look badass. Seriously, they're freaking awesome!

"So," the guard pony says. "Princess Luna has ordered me to take care of you for the night. It's rare that she has guests, so I'll do my best to accommodate you with the _proper_ quarters that I'm sure you'll find to your liking."

He turns around, walks past you, and then turns his head at you. It takes a moment for you to realize he's waiting for you to walk up to him. Doing so, he starts a slow pace down the hall with the other two mares following.

Lyra looks giddy right now, almost like she's about to jump off the walls. Bon Bon doesn't seem to care too much. She looks tired, in fact.

"I have to ask," the guard pony says to you, "but I've never seen such a strange costume before. I also wasn't aware that minotaurs celebrated Nightmare Night."

"That's because I'm not a minotaur… um…"

"You can call me Sunshine Smiles."

Seriously? That's his name?

"Okay, Smiles. And once again, I'm not a minotaur. I'm actually a human."

"Human? I've never heard of _that_ species before. Where do your kind hail from?"

"Anon here doesn't come from anywhere around this planet," Lyra jumps in. "He's an alien from another dimension!"

Sunshine Smiles looks at you with a raised brow. "Really? Hard to believe, but stranger things have happened before. And you're just visiting this planet or…"

You shake your head. "No, it's nothing like that. I'm not really sure _how_ I got here in the first place. One day I'm on a ship out in the middle of an ocean, the next I'm in the middle of a forest with a unicorn in front of me."

"I'm… sorry to hear that. I'm certain you would love to go home, then."

"I'm not even sure if that's possible, not without knowing how I came here in the first place at least."

"Well then, I hope your time here in this world's been good to you."

Looking back at Lyra and Bon Bon, you see them staring back. You turn back to Smiles.

"Better than anyone could ask for, really."

"That's good to hear," he replies.

The four of you continue walking down the halls, the only sounds being made are the clipping of their hooves. Sunshine Smiles sure is taking you through a lot of halls. They're littered with the guard ponies who salute Smiles as you four walk by them.

This place is enormous! Everything looks to be made out of marble with pillars everywhere and a red carpet that continues down every hall. The walk sure is slow. It doesn't appear like Smiles is in a hurry at all.

"So, I see you're dressed up. What are you supposed to be, anyway?" Sunshine asks you.

"My costume? I'm dressed up as one of our fictional characters from home called Batman."

You can see a small smirk on his lips when he hears that. "Bat… man?"

"Yes. He's a superhero that went out in the night and kicked ass everywhere, taking down criminal masterminds with the use of his gadgets and smarts while being awesome."

"I'm… not sure why you'd have a hero kicking donkeys all over the place, but I've never seen a bat costume before, only vampire costumes."

"Sorry, ass is just slang for butt from where I come from. Also... not to sound rude, but I also noticed that you look sort of like a bat yourself."

"Just noticing? Yeah, we're referred to as bat ponies. You probably won't be seeing a lot of us unless it's at night or you're over in Fillydelphia. A good amount of us live over there. It's our preferred place of residence."

"Any particular reason you live over there instead of any other place?"

He turns his head away from the question. "That's… not something I'd like to discuss."

You drop the question, trying to find something else to say.

"So you're dressed as a bat hero from your people," the guard says pushing the conversation somewhere else. "Does that mean your people celebrate other things at night?"

"…What? Batman's just a fictional hero."

"Oh, sorry. I mean…" He lets out a sigh.

Looking back at the other two mares real quick, they shrug their shoulders at you. It's strange they haven't said much. Maybe they're just too tired right now.

"Bats are symbolized here as night creatures," Sunshine Smiles says. "And yes, they are very symbolic to us ponies when it comes to the night. I suppose I only assumed it was the same for your kind."

"It's kind of like that, depending on what certain people believe in and where they live. We have a lot of different countries that celebrate and believe different things. We even have a holiday that's just like Nightmare Night called Halloween."

Sunshine Smiles tells you some things about the bat ponies. They don't need as much sleep, can see in the dark, and some other things. You in return tell him a few things about how your people celebrate the night. Party time at college sure is a good memory.

"That's really fascinating! But I noticed that you said your people come from different areas. Are your people still split up?" You nod at the question. He tsks at that. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Same here; that's just the way things go back home. We do pretty well, all things considering."

Silence once more before you go back to talking about what you did back home at night. It's getting somewhat awkward with just the two of you talking back and forth.

"Well, we're here," Sunshine Smiles says standing before a huge door.

It's huge for a pony, anyways. It's just about a little bit higher than you, which you're hoping means the room is nice and large.

"There will be a maid coming in the morning that will lead you to where you'll be eating. I expect you three to be proper around the princesses tomorrow. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

The two mares only shake their heads before heading straight into the room.

"W-wait," you say, stopping Smiles from leaving. "Where's my room?"

"Hmm? It's here."

"No, I mean shouldn't I have a separate room from them? Like, a male room where you can take me?"

Sunshine Smiles raises his brow. "So you prefer the company of males, do you?" He gives you a smirk. "Sadly, I'm still on duty but I could escort you to _my_ quarters for later on after I get off… if you'd like?"

OH FUCKING GOD, IT'S BIG MAC ALL OVER AGAIN!

"N-no! No, it's fine."

"Are you sure? We have a room that caters to males and their passions. I can be the one to cater to you later on this evening…"

"This room is _perfectly_ fine!"

"Well… that's too bad. Your own love of the night and your," he looks you up and down, "physique interest me. You can always call a butler if you ever decide to change your mind… okay?"

You slowly walk backwards into the room before closing the door. A shiver runs down your spine. Just… why would they even think you're interested? Looking around the room, you see it's pretty spacious. There are a few dressers, a door that leads to a balcony, another door that leads to a bathroom, and one single enormous bed.

"…Fuck."

Looks like you're sleeping on the ground tonight. Still holding your suitcase that Lyra lended, you quickly make for the bathroom.

"I'm going to take a quick shower and get out of this costume!"

"Alright!" Lyra squeaks back in a giggle. She's currently jumping up and down on the bed with Bon Bon staring at her.

After ten minutes of struggling with getting the costume off, you empty the suitcase of everything, which there isn't much of, before neatly packing the costume in it. It feels much better with nothing on after wearing that all night. Looking around the bathroom, you notice the entire place is freaking awesome! There's even a small little Jacuzzi area on the side. You'd love to use that. Maybe if there's time tomorrow before breakfast?

All of a sudden, you hear a lot of screaming from the bedroom. Lyra must've done something silly once again. Shrugging it off, you start the shower and get in, not wanting to spend much time in it. Good god, it feels so nice having the hot water on you. You're just lucky the bathroom already has soaps here.

After drying yourself, you put on the clothes from the suitcase, and then walk back out into the bedroom with said suitcase. You're met with two extremely red-faced mares trying their hardest not to look at you for some reason… What did they do?

"Is there something wrong?"

Lyra looks completely flustered… Oh god, what did she do?

"I _swear_ I didn't mean to, Anon! I found a control box that did different things, like making the room smell nice or putting on music, b-but then it sort of… well…"

Lyra looks behind you. Turning around, you see the entire wall's completely see through now… the same wall that's connected to the bathroom you were just showering moments ago. And now _you're_ red. Turning back to Lyra, you see she's trying to say something.

"I-I-I tried to turn off the control box, but I…"

Looking down where Lyra's staring at the ground, you see something that looks like a remote control. It's smashed in.

"I sort of broke it…"

Just how did she manage to break it? Wait, what kind of fucking room _is_ this?! Maybe you can talk to someone about changing-

No. You have a feeling Sunshine Smiles would take that as an invitation. You'll just have to talk to the princess in the morning about this. Sighing to yourself, you set the travel case down beside the bed before walking up to Lyra. You tousle her hair before walking over to the other side of the bed.

"It's just an accident, right? So don't think much of it, Lyra."

"You're not upset?" she asks.

"It'll take more to upset me. I was more upset when you tried taking pictures of me a good while back when Rarity was measuring me and this here's an accident. So don't worry."

You grab a pillow and try to peel off a blanket from the bed. "What are you doing?" Bon Bon asks.

"Taking a pillow and a blanket; I'll be sleeping on the ground so the two of you can take the bed."

"W-what?" Lyra stutters out. "No! You'll sleep on the bed just like us!"

"It's also not like you haven't slept with Lyra before either, Anon. It'll just be with me instead of Big Mac, and won't that be an improvement?"

That's true. And without a Big Mac up against you… yeah, it'll be better. Lyra gives Bon Bon a look, making you snicker.

"Okay, you have a point there. Just hurry up and take a shower or a bath, I know the two of you have been waiting to get in."

Bon Bon looks at you before turning to Lyra with a smirk.

"Oh, so you want to watch _us_ shower in return for us watching _you_ shower?"

You sputter out incoherently. It's hard to reply to them with the two laughing at your expense. Lyra just gives you a smile before jumping off the bed and into the bathroom with Bon Bon slowly following.

"You're showering together?"

Bon Bon stops right before she enters. "Sure, is there a problem with that?"

"No, I just wasn't aware that ponies showered together."

"Only of the same sex. I'd never shower with a stallion I don't know personally… okay?"

You can hear the shower running all of a sudden. Without realizing it, you turn your head to where you can see Lyra under the shower head. She looks like she's singing to herself with a smile while swaying her head from side to side, her wet hair slapping about.

"Anon, you're _sta-ring_!" Bon Bon says with a chuckle.

You choke on some air before quickly turning away. Bon Bon chuckles from your reaction.

"Lighten up a little… I won't say anything if you want to watch."

You're not going to reply to her. It's obvious she's messing with you right now. Why else would she say that? A few seconds later, you hear the door closing. Slowly turning back around, you see Bon Bon's inside the bathroom now with Lyra who she's talking to.

Bon Bon turns to the wall before winking her eye out towards you. Okay, yeah… what the hell? _She must've had too much sugar tonight_, you think to yourself.

Sliding into the bed, you pull the covers over you. This bed's so damn comfortable. It's almost like you're sleeping on a cloud. You're feeling extremely tired all of a sudden. It's really hard to stay awake right now. You're just too… tired… right now. The last thing you see before falling asleep is the blurred image of Lyra and Bon Bon laughing inside the bathroom showering.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

You wake up with a yawn. It's hard to move your arms for some reason, so you have to blink your eyes to clear them so you can look around. Oh, that's right. You're in the castle right now. No wonder this bed feels so damn awesome. But why do you feel weighed down?

Looking at either side of you is Lyra and Bon Bon. They're both lying on your arms sound asleep. They're both squeaking out little snores which you find adorable. You let out another yawn, still feeling tired. Maybe you should sleep for a little while longer…

You hear a knocking at the door. It creaks open where you can see a maid trying to enter the room. She looks inside, staring at the bed. Lightly tugging your arm out from under Bon Bon, you wave her inside. Bon Bon scurries up to your side, lightly snoring on your chest now. The maid quickly comes in, walking to the bed.

"I see you had a nice night with these two mares," the maid says with a smirk.

You feel your face redden. "I didn't do anything with them; we merely slept in the same bed since it's the only one in this room."

The maid looks unsure. "Really? It's almost expected from _this_ room. I don't smell anything odd, so maybe you're telling the truth?"

"Is there a reason you're here?"

"Yes, I'm to escort the three of you to breakfast. It starts in forty-five minutes, so I do hope you'll be ready when I come back in fifteen minutes."

"Huh. Well, thanks for the wakeup call. How did you know we'd need it?"

She lets out a giggle. "Everypony from this particular room _always_ need a wakeup call."

Okay, now you feel dirty just being in here. It also explains some things… but why did Princess Luna give you this room? The maid quickly leaves after that. You start shaking Bon Bon, waking her up immediately.

"Good morning, Anon," Bon Bon says, squeaking out a yawn.

"Bon Bon, we have a little less than fifteen minutes before the maid comes back to bring us to the princesses for breakfast."

Bon Bon rolls off of you onto her side, stretches her legs out, and then jumps off the bed. Bon Bon walks over to Lyra and starts poking her in the stomach, trying to wake her up.

Lyra grumbles before rolling over and on top of you. She wakes up immediately after that, finding herself lying directly on you. She stares down at you with wide eyes, her face mere inches from yours. You stare back at her, unable to move from your position.

"…Lyra, mind getting off?"

She blinks at you before realizing where she is. Lyra rolls all the way off the bed, scrambling to the bathroom, and slamming it closed. You watch her start to freak out all of a sudden, talking to herself until she collapses on the floor and starts rolling around.

"She forgot we can see her, didn't she?"

"Eeyup."

Getting out of the bed, you walk over to your suitcase and open it up for your shoes and hair brush. Bon Bon's on the bed with her own brush, trying to get those strange curls back into them. It's strange how they can pretty much mold their hair into any shape they want with no troubles. It doesn't take long for Bon Bon to brush her mane like she usually has it.

Lyra comes back out with a hop in her step, levitating a brush down her hair. She gives both of you a smile before turning back to grab her travel case, and then freezing.

"Th-that thing was… still on?"

"Lyra, you broke the remote last night, remember?"

"R-right."

She's most likely embarrassed since she now knows you both saw her rolling act. The maid gives a knock on the door once more before entering.

"I hope you're all ready to dine with the princess this morning. You can leave your cases here for the time being."

"What if we leave after breakfast?" Bon Bon asks.

"Then they'll be delivered to the carriage you'll be riding back to wherever it is you came from."

Lyra immediately throws her brush on top of her suitcase and out the door with the maid. You and Bon Bon follow them, walking through the halls once more. It's a lot brighter now, with the sun bouncing off of every reflective surface. Even the marble had some shine to it, probably from magic.

The guards are also different. They're now a continuous row of white ponies with a few grey ones here and there, but no bat ponies. You wouldn't mind talking to a bat pony. They seem fairly interesting. Except for Sunshine… he might try something.

"Hey Lyra, when I came here you told me about unicorns, pegasus, and earth ponies. Why'd you leave out bat ponies?"

"Eh… Sorry about that, it really never crossed my mind. Sunshine Smiles told you about them last night, so there isn't much else for me to add. I know they went by another name before, but I can't remember. Hmm…"

Lyra's in thought now, trying to think. Walking around another bend, the four of you pass by more guards who stand at attention, not moving once. They're not as interesting to look at as the bat ponies. Seriously, those guys are awesome!

"Ah, I remember now! They used to be called 'Zotz' ponies. There's also some other pony breeds. Sadly, they're extinct as far as we know."

Other pony breeds? Before you can ask her about that, the maid stops the three of you in front of a large door.

"This is the princess's private dining room. They eat here in this room often and rarely invite guests inside."

Yeah… no pressure or anything. She opens up the door for the three of you to enter. Looking inside, you see a very elegant looking room. There's a lot of open space with windows all over the place. It's fairly bright. In the middle of the room is a large table where you can see two ponies sitting there.

Princess Luna, you recognize. The extremely large, horse-looking pony, you do not. _That must be Celestia_, you think, walking slowly to the table. You hear the doors close behind you. Lyra and Bon Bon are on either side of you, trying not to look intimidated.

"Please, take a seat," Celestia speaks out. She seems calm and projects a motherly aura. She's… not what you were expecting to see.

The three of you quickly comply, sitting down. They even had a seat that was just your size. She's extremely white, almost bleached. She also had an ethereal mane and tail much like her sister; only it's more like an aurora continuously flowing from her.

Oh, and she's much larger than Luna. She resembles a horse to you… but she's supposed to be a pony. Confusing? Yes… yes it is.

"So, you must be the alien that I've been receiving reports about for nearly two months now." She gives you a nod, still smiling. "It's a pleasure to meet you at last."

"L-likewise."

"The food should arrive shortly. For the time being, why don't we have talk?"

"…Okay."

It's extremely intimidating for you to talk to a ruler of people, no matter how kind that ruler appears. Your entire livelihood is at stake and anything you say can fuck that up. Lyra ensured you a while back that Celestia wouldn't do anything. You're hoping she's right.

"How has your time here been?" Celestia asks, once more with a smile.

"It's… different, I'll admit. My world's not full of the magic and the strange wonders that yours has. Everything's so different to what I'm used to."

"Share some of your experiences with us, if you'd be so kind."

"I… don't think you'd want to hear about them."

"Please, it'll be awhile before the food gets here and I'm truly interested to hear about your time here."

"…Well, let's see. There was that library pony that locked me in a cage and tortured me for a week. There's that week where Big Mac kept trying to get me into a relationship with him and start a herd. Then there's when Rose got half the town to chase me around for half the day trying to throw me into the Everfree Forest. I finally convinced her I'm not a monster but there are still a few ponies here and there that still don't agree with me being there."

"Um, w-"

"Oh! I've also got a reputation now that I can rub any pony into a blissful state of euphoria! That one's really annoying since I keep getting everyone asking me to 'rub them off'. I've also got a few stalkers following me wherever I go out in town that no one seems to notice whenever I try to point them out, there's a gathering of mares AND stallions that keep asking me about the weirdest shit, and Pinkie… don't get me started on her!"

"Is there something wrong with her?"

"No, there isn't. She's a cool pony and fun to be around. Pinkie… she's better when taken in small doses. She's just over the top all the time! From the little things like throwing pies at me for something called 'pie day' that only she knew about, to that damn animated gingerbread cookie of hers!"

You dig into your pocket for a pouch you keep in there. It's full of rocks. You take a rock out of it and chuck it out the open window on your side, eliciting a yelp from it.

"I see you out there, you fucker!"

"I just want you to eat me up! Chew me into delicious chunks and swallow me whole!"

You already _tried that_! It was creepy as hell, but you did! The fucker kept rejuvenating all its wounds, trying to force you to eat the damn thing forever! You even tried eating it all in one go but the damn crumbs turned into a new cookie! You throw another rock, forcing the thing to yelp out once more.

"You'll come around soon enough for another bite of my sweet behind!" it yells out before jumping off the ledge.

"…Why is that thing following you? How did that cookie get past security?" Luna questions. "Why was there a talking cookie in the first place?"

"Pinkie."

"Right," everyone says at the same time. It's pretty much expected of her to do weird shit like that.

"It sounds like your time here has been somewhat… stressful for you from what I'm getting here."

"You can say that. I know back home, none of this would have ever happened. But… I know I'm not home and I have to get over the eccentric nature of you ponies."

Looking over to Lyra, you see she's staring at you with worry. You chuckle to yourself before looking back to Celestia.

"Of course, a little character's always a good thing. I can't say that everything's been a pain."

"Well, if you ever need anything, do ask. I'll try to help out so long as it's a reasonable request."

"Thanks. I'll remember that."

"At least your time here at the castle's been fine, correct?" Celestia asks.

"Yes, it has. Though… what was with the bedroom?"

"Was the room not to your liking?" Celestia asks. "The bedding should be large enough to fit three people of your size."

"It was more about how the wall turned invisible where Lyra and Bon Bon here got a free peepshow from me." The two mares beside you shuffle about in their seats. "Also, Lyra said that there was some strange music and some other things."

"I-it's not like we were _trying_ to look at you. It just sort of happened!" Lyra squeaks out.

"There were also candles appearing out of nowhere," Bon Bon adds in. "And some incense burning… and rose petals falling from the roof…"

Rose petals? How the fuck did you miss that? They must've cleaned them up while you were showering.

"And why were we grouped together in the same room?"

"I'm terribly sorry about that," Luna says. "My captain must've given you the sensual room instead of private rooms. I should have told him specifically what rooms to give you."

Celestia slowly turns to Luna. You can see her smile twitching about, trying not to frown from the looks of it.

"Luna… what's this about a sensual room?"

Luna just blinks at her. "You should know, sister. It's a room for sensual pleasures. My captain mistakenly put them in there for the night."

"Why do we have a sensual room, Luna?" Celestia asks through clenched teeth.

"It's for our guests, Celestia. Don't you remember? It's for guests that would like to spend the night with some company." Celestia groans loudly. "Is something wrong?"

"Luna… I removed those rooms nearly nine hundred years ago. Just how many 'guests' have you invited to that room?"

"Only a few. I rarely have any guests in recent years in the night and whenever I do they never stay for no longer than they're needed to."

"And how many know about this room?"

"My captain, a few maids specifically trained for the room, and myself. Why would you get rid of the rooms? Do you know how difficult it was to put those rooms inside this castle?"

"Luna, we're going to have a talk about what's acceptable now and what's not."

"You're saying the sensual rooms aren't accepted in this day and age?"

"No Luna, they're not."

"Well, why not?"

"They just aren't, okay? I'll explain later, Luna. Do not issue the rooms out to anypony else." She turns to the three of you with a blank expression. Okay, that shit's scary. "This is not to be discussed out of this room, is that clear? Everything about the sensual room is to be kept quiet from now on."

The three of you quickly nod your heads. Celestia immediately calms back down.

"…Right. Well, I hope that any future visits will be better for you," Celestia says with a smile you can tell is forced.

"Okay then."

The five of you sit in awkward silence for a while. It's a bit hard to think of something to say.

"…Those pens of yours are absolutely brilliant," Celestia says. "There's so much that we can learn from you. I would like to propose you work for us, trying to figure out a way to help advance our own kind."

Celestia quickly goes over a few things that would come with the new job, such as being paid and some things you'd be doing. It sounds nice, but you still don't feel like you'd do a good job.

"I don't mind helping whenever I can. It's just I don't feel very confident trying to create things I've only ever used."

"You don't have to worry about that. I don't expect you to be able to do a whole lot. A pony will come in, ask questions for a little while, and that's it. I'll probably have Twilight come in for that since she's volunteered already."

"Why did you make it out like I'd be making the stuff?"

"That's... not what I meant. I need you to use the products so we can see if what we produce is identical to what you describe. That's about it, really."

The doors open once again, announcing the arrival of the maids. They start placing food down on the table with many plates of fruits and vegetables. There's one though that's placed directly in front of you with a silver top on it. As soon as the maids leave, Celestia looks back at you, and then turns her attention to the platter.

"I know that it can be hard living in a foreign place without the comforts of home. While I can't provide your strange machinery, I hope this'll work in its stead."

You're uncertain as to what's in the tray. Noticing the two princess levitating fruit and other things on their plates, you lift the tray up-

You place the lid back down, shocked at what's inside. Lifting it back up, you spot something you _never_ thought to expect. Meat. It's a plate of meat. You can see it's cooked along with some spices that color the meal. Your eyes widen in disbelief that the princess would serve this to you.

"Is it not to your liking?" Princess Celestia asks you. Looking up, you watch her levitate a partially eaten pear on her plate while staring at your dish.

Turning to either side of you, both Bon Bon and Lyra also have expressions of shock on their faces.

"I recall reading in the reports Lyra sent in that you're an omnivore. I know she hasn't been feeding you any meat since our kind does not generally eat such things."

You can feel your mouth salivate at the plate holding the large piece of meat in front of you. It' looks like an enormous New York strip steak.

"That's true. And while this looks very delicious to me…" you grab the tray's top and place it back on the plate, "I sadly cannot accept this."

Your mind is screaming at you for this idiotic once in a lifetime choice at eating meat once again. Celestia seems… confused.

"Is there something wrong with the meat? Do you prefer it not cooked, or maybe you'd prefer a different type?"

"It's not that. It's more about my time living here."

"…Go on."

"As you know, I've been living with your kind for a while. I've seen a lot and learned much. I also noticed that many of the animals here are sentient to a certain degree. While they may not be able to actually think like we do or make intelligent choices, they're still fairly intelligent. It would feel… wrong, eating while thinking that."

And how you would love to stop thinking that. You blame Fluttershy for this. Damn that butter-looking mare!

"It's perfectly fine. The meat is nothing more than an imitation of the real thing. It's mostly made up of different grains and such, but it tastes exactly like meat."

"So… not meat?"

"No. This is usually served when we eat with meat eaters such as griffons. It's perfectly fine."

With that out of the way, you open the tray back up and start looking for utensils. There's a fucking steak to be eaten, fake or not! Lyra levitates over a knife and fork. You thank her before quickly cutting into the steak. _Oh dear fucking god!_ you think as you take your first bite. _It's like sex in my mouth!_

It's seasoned strangely, but it still tastes like a fucking steak! How fucking amazing it is to eat something like this again!

"I see you're enjoying it," Luna chuckles.

You swallow your bite before answering.

"I may not want to eat meat for moral obligations in these lands, but you have no idea how long it's been."

Both princesses chuckle before going back to their own meals. Lyra and Bon Bon slowly eat their own plates of food, watching you chow down on the faux steak. It doesn't take long for you to devour the entire thing. It could have used a little sauce, in your opinion.

Princess Celestia finishes her own plate of pears, apples, and figs so she can talk more with you. She discusses some of the things you've been through in the past two months. It seems like she wants to retest some things with you that Lyra's done. You agree that some of what Lyra's done isn't very conventional. They'll be stricter and more what you'd expect for something to be done. You're okay for some new work from what Lyra's done and further research, but on one condition.

"I mean no offence, but why Lyra?" Celestia asks. "I can send in somepony that can get the tests done fairly quickly as they're going over some other work like your species' creations."

Meaning Twilight.

"I owe a lot to Lyra, more than I can probably ever repay her for. She's the one that got me out of that forest and has fed me and kept me housed for the last two months. And out of everyone here, she's also the most accepting of me… other than Bon Bon, that is." That's only recently, but that's beside the point. "I think I can trust her well enough for some retesting."

"…I suppose it won't be much of a problem if Lyra is to do the retesting. I'll pay her a salary based on her work, thought it'll only be one day out of the week. Twilight will be overlooking the tests after they're done to make sure everything's fine. It'll just be a few tests every now and then, so it won't be overly strenuous on you."

"I'm okay with that. I just don't want to be under the microscope or anything like that."

"Since it seems we're done eating a-" Princess Celestia furrows her brow at Lyra. "H… how did you get that smoothie?"

Lyra stops sucking on her straw and looks down at the smoothie that's on top of her plate.

"…I dunno," she says before sipping once more on it.

"…Anyways," Celestia says, "since it seems everypony here is done eating and there isn't anything else to discuss, I need to go back to my duties along with my sister. You're more than welcome to stay the night if you so desire. There's going to be a star shower tonight and we'll be having some festivities here at the castle."

"While I'd like to take you up on that offer, I'm supposed to be with some ponies out in town tonight and these two here will be doing some things as well."

"Yep! We'll be watching it on our rooftop like always!"

Celestia gives you a nod. She quickly stands up with Luna and the three of you following them. Following the princesses out of the room, she orders a maid to escort the three of you to a chariot back to Ponyville.

And now you're walking down the extremely long hallways once more. Seriously, why are they so long and all over the place? After what feels like hours, you arrive at a chariot with two of the day guards already tethered to the chariot.

Getting inside, you see your suitcases that you came here with. You definitely didn't want to leave your costume behind; it'd be difficult to get a new one. Once Bon Bon and Lyra get in with you, the two guards immediately lift off.

"Oooooooooooh!"

Holy fucking god, it's like a rollercoaster ride except the drop off goes into the air! You hold onto the sides of your seat, white-knuckled and stiff lifting off.

"Lighten up, Anon," Lyra says, bumping into your side. "Try to enjoy this! Chariot rides are fun!"

"Just pretend it's like last night with Princess Luna," Bon Bon says.

It's somewhat difficult since you can actually see shit now! It was dark last night, but now you know how high you are by looking over the side-

WHY THE FUCK DID YOU LOOK OVER THE SIDE!

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

You're currently on the couch back at Lyra's, lying down and trying to calm yourself down. It's not that you're afraid of heights. You're afraid of falling out of an unsecured chariot with NO FUCKING SEATBELTS! YOU'RE GOING TO INVENT SEATBELTS NEXT! THEY NEED SEATBELTS!

"Anon, are you okay?" Lyra asks sitting beside you.

"…Yeah. I just… need five more minutes…"

"You've been lying here for a good while, Anon. You even fell asleep."

And what a good nap it was. Standing up, you stretch your body out, feeling a satisfying pop in your back. You then fall back onto the couch.

"So Anon, what did you think of the princesses?" Lyra asks, taking a seat beside you.

"It was interesting. Princess Celestia's much bigger than I thought she would be; same with Luna, in fact. Are they really ponies?"

"Of _course_ they are! What else would they be?"

"…Horses?"

Lyra slaps a hoof over her mouth, trying not to laugh.

"Also, it looks like I'll also be having some more tests. Just like when I first arrived here, eh?"

"But Twilight's going to be helping too! Uuuuuuuugh…" she flops on her back, continuing her groaning.

"She's only checking up on the final results. And hey! You'll be getting paid once more. Won't that be nice?"

"Yeah, I suppose. I mean, it's more bits for smoothies and other things."

You sit back into the couch with Lyra listing off different things she can buy with the extra money. You just think about how the meeting with the princess went. It's definitely not what you were expecting at all.

"Damn… I should've asked for a place before we left."

The princess _did_ say you could ask her for help so long as it's reasonable. Surely a place to call home would qualify, right?

"W-what?" Lyra sits up, looking at you with worry. "Why do you want to move away? …Don't you like it here?"

"It's n-"

"Is it us?! Am I bugging you too much, or-"

"Lyra. It's not you or Bon Bon, okay?"

"Then… why would you want to move out?"

"It doesn't feel right, that's why. I've been living in your room for the last two months while you've been sleeping on the couch down here. I know you'd prefer having your own room back, right?"

"I'd prefer having you here than getting my room back!"

Before you could bring up anything else to point out, Bon Bon jumps into the conversation.

"What about having your own room instead, Anon?"

Looking over the couch, you see Bon Bon in the kitchen. She must've been listening the whole time.

"What do you mean?"

"I doubt the princess will build an entire home for you to match your size. That would be expensive." She walks over, taking a seat on the other side of you. "Now, if you ask for a room that seems more reasonable. We can even help hoof some of the bill if it comes to it."

"Yeah! See?! You don't have to move away and you can stay here still in your _own_ room!"

It does give both of you your own room. You'll also get your own resized room. But still, you don't want to have these two spend anything on you.

"…We can talk about this tomorrow, okay?"

Lyra forces a smile, hearing that. "Sure… We can do that."

…Why do you have a feeling she's going to do something stupid?

"Anon, you should start heading out," Bon Bon says. "Vinyl's probably expecting you by now."

Fuck, you nearly forgot about that. Looking outside, you see it's gotten fairly dark. Yeah, you should probably be there right now. Getting up, you grab your cloak off the coat hanger and make your way out the door to Vinyl's place. It's not exactly a long walk; it's just on the other side of town.

Arriving at her place, you knock on the door. There's no music playing this time around. You wonder why. The door creaks open, Vinyl looking out the crack of the door. She immediately opens it up, pulling you inside with magic, and then closes the door once more.

"You're here! For a second there, I didn't think you'd make it!"

"I would've made it sooner but got back from Canterlot on a chariot a while ago and I sort of fell asleep trying to calm myself from the trip."

"Ah, air travel. It's a killer way to disorient yourself, right?" She pushes you over to a couch, telling you to take a seat. "Just wait right there. Octavia would have a nasty little fit if I don't prepare something for the guest."

She leaves you sitting there amongst the wires all over the place. They're a lot more organized this time around. There are a lot of extra tables too, with strange equipment and tools you don't recognize the last time you were here.

Vinyl comes back with a tray of tea and brownies. The brownies are a pleasant welcome from all the damn cupcakes the other ponies usually serve. You take a bite of a brownie with Vinyl serving some tea. After that, she takes a seat right by you and leans back into the couch, kicking her hind legs on the table.

"Aaahh, chilling out's bucking awesome, dude. It feels nice to relax. I've been working hard, trying to figure out that darn music player of yours."

You throw the rest of the brownie in your mouth, washing it down with some tea. It's got a minty taste to it.

"To be honest, I figured you would've broken the thing."

"…Then why hoof that over for me to look at in the first place?"

"It's not like I can exactly use it for anything if it's dead, Vinyl. If you broke it, no loss on me. If you managed to charge it up, then awesome."

"Then Anon, prepare to be awesomized!" she yells out, slamming the tea down her throat, and jumping off the couch.

_That's… not a word_, you think to yourself as Vinyl runs over to a table.

"See, I've been working on the music player for a good while, trying to figure out how to put in the correct amount of lightning in it without breaking the thing. I noticed that the charging slot almost looks identical to some of my own gear. So I made some imitation chargers with some magic and set them up at the lowest voltage for the player."

Vinyl continues on, telling you exactly what she's been doing for that past week or so: from blowing shit up to managing to make magical copies of your iPod for test charging.

"Wait, you can make duplicates of this?"

"Sure! But I doubt it'll have anything in it; it's just copying the actual object and not what's inside. Think of it like I'm copying a tin full of cookies and focus on the tin. The cookies don't come along. Also, the cookies would totally taste nasty if I tried copying those."

You chow down another brownie, sipping on more minty tea while she tries to set up whatever it was she's trying to do.

"It took about a few… I have no idea how many copies, but I made a lot of them and kept trying to see how to charge them. And so, I finally found one that didn't blow up or melt. I hope it's the right power though, since I don't know how to turn it on."

"Do you have it charged?"

"Yeah… I think."

"Let me see it real quickly, then."

Vinyl levitates the iPod over to you. Flicking over the damn lock, you hold the button to turn it on. The screen immediately flashes on, telling you that it worked.

"Good job! We now have music."

"BUCKING AWESOME!" she screams out, jumping back on the couch by you. "Show me some of that cool music!"

"It's going to be a tad difficult doing that."

"…And why's that?"

You grab the ear buds, unwinding them and showing the things to her.

"You listen to the music through these."

"I could amplify the sound so it's louder!"

"That would most likely break them, don't you think?"

She takes a moment thinking to herself. Staring at the wires to the headphones, she levitates it away from the iPod, trying to pull it to her. Your hold keeps it in place, unplugging the buds from the iPod.

"Are you serious? They could've come out at any time?"

She runs over to one of her tables, dropping the buds back into your lap. How did she not notice they can be taken out of the iPod in the first place?

"I have duplicates that should still work. That also looks like a plug in. While mine are square, I can probably fix them up so they're circle like that!"

You sit back and watch her levitate an enormous bundle of the broken iPods, pulling out all the headsets. She then starts throwing a shit ton of magic everywhere. Seriously, it's a lot of blue sparks flying all over the place. It's fucking magical. She continues this for about five minutes or so until it all stops.

Vinyl turns around with a large smile and a fairly large speaker with one of the headphone plug ins attached to the end of it.

"See? Easy enough! Now let's plug that bad boy in so we can get our ears fed with some delicious music!"

That… doesn't look like it'll work. But what do you know? Magic's a weird thing to argue with.

"I can show you how to work it, along with some tunes, but I still want to see that star shower since I've never seen one before."

"That's fine; I can dig you wanting to see that."

You show her how to turn the thing on, how to lock it, and how much pressure is needed. It doesn't take long for her to learn how much magic she has to force into the wheel to make it work.

"All you have to do is spin it and go to a category. I'd recommend going to the genre so you can learn the different styles we have. Now I don't know much about music, but I love listening to it. Also… I'd advise you to probably stay away from things like death metal on this thing. I'll give you a list later on."

"Death… metal? So someone's trying to kill the metal? Why would anyone want to kill the metal?"

"Ah-ha! But they will fail as metal smites them to the ground!"

"…What?"

"J-just ignore that…"

"Come on, play something already! My lughole has a sweet tooth for some ear candy!"

"Sure, sure. I remember hearing what you played here and I realize it's not dubstep."

"What's that?"

"It's a subgenre to the techno music that you play. Now, you played mostly…um…" You snap your fingers, trying to find the word. "Starts with… Ah, right! Synthesizer. Back in college, one of my roommates used to make some of that stuff as a hobby, and that's what your music reminds me of. I think I've got the perfect song for you."

You scroll the wheel like crazy until you get to the song you want. Making sure the volume's nice and loud, you plug it into the speaker and hit play.

watch?v=eNb6Wvn68Vw

"…Interesting. It kinda _does_ sound like what I'd play. Hmm…"

Vinyl sits back, letting the music play. Her ears twitch about as she listens. Bending over to look at her, you see she has a smile stretched across her face.

"Okay, this stuff definitely does sound like something I'd make, except it has vocals. Singing about harmony and always being there for someone? Dude, everypony's going to love that stuff! I'm really enjoying this! I hope you have more of that kind of stuff on there!"

"I do, along with much more. But I have a question for you."

"Lay the words on me, Anon!"

"…How in the hell are you able to understand the lyrics at all?"

"Oh, easy enough. I talked to Twilight and Lyra about some of your language and figured out a simple translation spell." You raise your eyebrow at her, which she sighs at. "It's not like I actually invented it, I just kept bugging them until they helped me make one. It was mostly Twilight that did all the work helping me. I just used it on myself, so I know it works."

All of a sudden her horn glows. She coughs at her throat, rubbing it softly with her hoof.

"~+See? I can speak your language too! Neat, no?+~"

Why the hell does she have a Swedish accent?! Holy fuck, that shit's sexy! _Just remember, she's still a pony… just with a really sexy voice._

"…How in the hell does that work?"

She shrugs her shoulders at you. "I dunno, it's magic. Ain't gotta explain crap, right? Talk to Lyra and Twilight about that stuff."

That… makes more sense than you'd like. Magic here just doesn't make sense, so why explain it most of the time?

"I can probably set it up to the music player later on, once I figure out how to keep it inside the thing without destroying it." She sits back once more to listen to the song once more. "This song is so relaxing and, like… it just _feels_ nice listening to! How much do you have on that glorious grey box of yours?"

"I have about," you look at your song count, "around twenty thousand songs."

Vinyl freezes all of a sudden. She starts to shudder all about before wheezing out some air.

"I… I think my gray matter just climaxed violently."

…You don't comment as the song plays out.

"This song should totally be, like, a theme song for us! Seriously, we have to get this thing on a record so I can play this for other ponies! I'll give you full credit for bringing it here in the first place, of course."

You only smirk as the song finally finishes. Vinyl sighs out, and then starts poking your side.

"Next song-next song-next song-next song-"

"Just a moment, sheesh."

"Make it something that makes me want to move about!"

You think you've got something like that.

"Now, this next one will be a bit more advanced. I can't really describe it but I'd have to say it's sort of like dubstep mixed with some other things."

watch?v=HuNjx_Q93tc

Vinyl immediately sits up, staring at the speaker. Her ears are twitching madly as the song starts to play. Her body's moving about like mad, hitting the song as it continues playing. She's enjoying the song immensely and so are you.

Once again, you can thank your college dorm mates for putting most of these songs on your iPod all those years ago. You remember them saying you needed to listen to more than just orchestral music. Orchestra will always hold a special part in your heart. The new music though, it's really good. You never took it off after they put it on.

As the song ends, Vinyl sits there silently. The only movement coming from her is the rising and falling of her breathing.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" She pokes you in the side all of a sudden. "Dude, play it again!"

You smile from her reaction. Grabbing the iPod, you replay the song once more. Now Vinyl's matching the beat more properly, moving her body with the rhythm. You sit back yourself and close your eyes, listening to the music. It's nice to relax and listen to some good music. She eventually gets up from the couch and starts dancing around, trying to get a better feel for the music, she said.

Vinyl continues to bug you to replay that one song over and over_. If she likes this song, wait until she listens to the other stuff._ Eventually, you hear a door opening up. Opening your eyes, you see Octavia walking into the room.

"Okay, seriously. I've been hearing some weird junk for a good while now. What's the big deal?"

"JUNK?! Are you out of your mind?! This is the next step in lightning music, Octavia! My music's just as good as anything you can produce!"

"Look, I'm not going to bother arguing with you about this right now. We've already discussed that our music styles are different but just as enjoyable to anypony else. Can you just… Ugh… Turn it off or something?"

"Anon's here and he's showing me some crankin' tunes, Octavia! How would you feel if you missed out on an awesome chance to hear stuff you've only heard in your dreams!"

"I highly doubt there's anything on that little box I'd ever care for, Vinyl. Now can you please either turn it off or move it elsewhere?"

Vinyl turns to you with a frown. "Anon, show her some music that she'd like. Seriously, you have something to prove her wrong, right?"

"Actually, I prefer hearing things like orchestras or acoustic playing's most of the time. I have something I think you'll like."

Vinyl tries forcing Octavia to sit with her while you find a song. She stands still, telling her she doesn't want a seat. Seriously, they bicker a lot.

watch?v=3zLdqXqrPog

Both Octavia and Vinyl stop arguing once the music starts up. Octavia turns her head to the speaker, picking up some very familiar instruments.

"Is… Are those cellos?"

She seems to be enjoying the song. So does Vinyl, lying back into her seat and listening. That's when the electric cello hits. They both to stare hard at the speaker… It's a bit difficult to tell where Vinyl's staring at exactly, but you think she's staring at it. Octavia's eyes widen. She certainly shouldn't have anything to argue about at this point onwards.

"W-what was that?" she asks once the song's over.

"The name? It's-"

"No, not that! The instrument that was playing in the song! It sounded like a stringed instrument, but it was… different."

"Oh, that. It's a cello."

"What?! N-no, impossible! No cello I know of sounds anything like that!"

"That's because it's a cello being powered by electricity. That's lightning to you."

Vinyl's face widens with a smile as she erupts into laughter. She turns to Octavia who has her mouth wide open and jaw dropped low.

"And you said my lightning couldn't improve your instruments!"

Octavia stares at Vinyl for a few seconds, unable to say anything. She turns around and heads back into whatever room she was in previously, shutting it with a slam.

"…Maybe I shouldn't have said that."

"You think?"

"I'll just have to deal with it later, I suppose."

Unplugging the iPod, you take your earbuds and wrap them around it. You stand up, walking over to one of Vinyl's worktables.

"Wait, why'd you put it up?! Come on, let's keep dishin' out the popolicious tunes!"

"The shower should be going on any minute, right?"

"…Crud, I nearly forgot about that! Right, follow me!"

Placing the iPod down on a table that seems safe, you follow Vinyl to a ladder that leads up to their roof. Once you get up there, you look around for a spot to sit down comfortably.

"Hey, I need to go get something. Be right back."

Fine with you. That gives you some time to look around up here. You can see most of Ponyville: there's the stands, the library, Sugarcube Corner, even Rarity's boutique. You also spot Lyra and Bon Bon's house. It's hard to see from up there. It looks like they have something set up all the way over there. They probably have a telescope over there. That'd be nice to have right now.

Vinyl returns with a plate of more brownies and some water to drink it down with. She offers you some of the brownies, and you take one. She takes a seat by you while munching on her own.

"Octavia going to be fine?" you ask, eating your brownie.

"Yeah, she's probably just… thinking to herself. It's rare to see Octavia lose her cool like that, but she's a big mare. She just needs some time. She'll be up here later on."

"That's good to hear. I didn't want to st-"

"..What was that?"

WHAT IN THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!

Everything's so… colorful all of a sudden! Looking at your hands, you move them around in the air. They leave behind trails of paint that follow your hands. In fact, you look really cel-shaded! Just what in the hell is going on?! Wait… You turn to the brownies, then to Vinyl.

"Vinyl… what's in the brownies?"

"Ah, I see it's working, then?" she snickers out. "I thought we could use some special brownies to relax."

"What?! I have no idea if this stuff will kill me!"

"Anon… are you still breathing? Hmm? Well, I guess it's fine!"

Totally _not_ cool! Vinyl ignores you, taking a brownie for herself. You have to admit, seeing everything being made up of paint is pretty neat. The stars start streaking across the sky without warning, making everything look surreal. You wish you weren't drugged up to watch this. You'll get Vinyl back for this somehow.

Fucking pony pot…

~End Chapter Twelve~

(Authors Note: Links aren't appearing properly. Just go to YouTube, place a slash after com, then paste the links provided after it.)


	14. Chapter Thirteen - The After Party

Why does Luna stress you out so much? You know she's a smart mare. She can make smart decisions. So why must she act before talking to you? You're not even thinking about her Nightmare Moon thing. No, it's her recent activities that are getting very frustrating.

The 'sensual rooms' are just another thing from a long string of things Luna's done. You stopped those around nine hundred years ago for a reason! Since Luna was gone back then for obvious reasons, that left all the duties to you. And since there was one central figure to look up to, everypony started thinking even stronger on the god image you had. It was extremely annoying and didn't help anything at all.

One of the problems are those stupid 'sensual rooms'. They started thinking of you as a 'sensual god', amongst other things… So you got rid of the 'sensual rooms', along with some… other things you'd rather not remember. The problem is, Luna's from that era where all of that was accepted. She still thinks they're acceptable today. You've been trying to fix this, get her caught up with the times. It's obviously not working.

As soon the breakfast/meeting finished up with the alien, both you and Luna left for your study room. This gave you a chance to talk to your sister through telepathy.

~"What in the buck were you thinking?!"~

The mental link you shoved into your sister makes her jump, losing her composure for a moment. Thankfully none of the guards react to that.

~"Sister, is something wrong?"~

~"Of course there is! A _sensual room_?! Why would you have one of those put into the castle?!"~

~ "One? I have about four of them!"~

_Don't lose your composure_, you tell yourself. _She's just not caught up with modern times…_

~"Luna, that kind of stuff is not acceptable anymore!"~

~"Why not?"~

~"It just isn't!"~

You sigh out, trying your best to find a way to explain this to Luna.

~"Things change overtime, Luna. When you were... _gone_, the ponies only had one figure to look up to, putting more pressure on me and my actions. I may have lost track of some of the things back then, such as those blasted rooms, and it wound up becoming a nuisance in the end."~

~"What exactly happened?"~

~"Remember how ponies viewed us as gods?"~ Luna nods her head at you. ~"They started adding titles to that. Long story short, being a sensual god of estrus and love for over two hundred and eighty nine years… is not exactly something I'd want to experience ever again…"~

What else are you missing?

~"…Also, bring your captain and anypony else that knows about the 'sensual rooms' later on, Luna."~

They're going to need a talking about keeping their mouths shut on the subject. Luna's going to be the one to do that, since it's directly her fault for this.

~"Very well, sister. I know having to take up the extra duties because of my… foul up, leaving me away for one thousand years must not have been easy on you. Though I would like to bring back some festivals and things from the past I have noticed have gone out of fashion."

~"…Such as?"~

~"I noticed the yearly cheese-rolling festivals are gone, along with Tea and Hats Day, and even the Global Species Day!"

~"I have no problem with those; they just fell out of fashion. The last one went away because some of the different kingdoms so long ago had issues with us, but we may be able to do something like that once more. Just, make sure you talk to me before doing anything. Certain holidays like Wraggly Worms are to be kept gone."~

~"I… agree with that. What a silly thing to be eating those things and such. Why ever did that come about again?"~

_That was before Discord's actions resulted in him turning to stone_, you think to yourself. _Still, that should change next week… hopefully._

~"On another note, I see your little get together with the alien went better than expected."~

Luna thought you were going to blast the thing out the window the moment it… or _he_ came in.

~"I have more self-control than you think, Luna."~

~"Still, you kept thinking of him as one of those Blueh Blueh Blueh."~

It's not your fault that he resembles them to a certain degree. Sure, he acts very civilized and seems nice. You still get the creeps though whenever you look at him…

After getting to your study room, you grab a small set of documents about the alien and lock the door once more. The council should be setting up about this point right now. It doesn't take you long to get to the council chambers. It's a fairly large room that has seats for other species on the outer walls. In the middle are the councilponies, seated in a single row.

Okay, so you need to explain that the scenario's not a scenario but a real event. There's going to be some problems in this since you're supposed to treat any new species with the same respect as any other. That's a part of the treaty with the griffons and the minotaurs.

~"So we just need to make all our previous actions make sense in some way, and if possible, find a way to fix some of the problems that came of this."~

Problems like trying to hide the fact that the other nations _now_ need to be informed of Anon. And the whole… him being a masseuse now…

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

_That could've gone better_, you think, sitting on your throne. Apparently, the ponies on the council have to change a lot of the plans dealing with the scenario. Some of them wanted to actually invest things into it, while others now have to contact and convince other kingdoms that this was all real without making you, Luna, or the council themselves look stupid.

The one thing they kept pestering you about, which you can't change, is his current job. How do you explain that properly? Something to think on, the other nations won't be notified of Anon for a while anyways.

Luna brought up that Anon mentioned being stalked around Ponyville. You remember some of the guards you sent there a while back reported back that there might be rebel activity there… You might have to send some guards there. You doubt they're interested in the human. They probably just got curious about him. It's your elements you're worried about.

You'll be sending over some guards next week to keep an eye on them while you continue to search out where the rebels are located. Speaking of elements, Twilight needs to be spoken to immediately. What Anon said troubles you if it's true. She should know better.

After finishing up your morning task of talking to petitioners, you order one of your advisors to cancel everything else for the day. You sigh to yourself, standing up from your throne. You turn to your advisor that's following you.

"Ink Blot, I need you to send for a chariot ride to Ponyville to pick up Twilight Sparkle. She needs to arrive as soon as possible."

"Should I arrange the usual for her, Princess Celestia?"

"No need. She will not be staying the night. And make sure she knows this before coming."

Your advisor looks at you with wide eyes. Twilight will get the message across what that means: she messed up, big time. You dismiss your advisor just as you enter your private quarters. Twilight won't be coming for a few more hours. That gives you plenty of time to think over what you'll be saying to her.

Twilight will easily confess what she's done to Anon. You need to find something proper for her punishment. You don't want to go overboard with it, while at the same time you need to make the punishment fitting for what she did.

Walking over to your desk, you take out a box. It holds Star Swirl's private book you've held onto all these years, along with a few other mementos. This is Star Swirl's lasting legacy, the last of his spell books he kept, holding spells he never got around to completing. You were going to give it to Twilight, as an initiation test in a few weeks. You were hoping that she would know what to do with it…

Sighing once more, you place the book back inside the desk. _Why can't things be simple?_

Looking at your desk, you stare at a picture of your student. It was taken a few weeks before she left for Ponyville. She's standing beside you with a smile along with her assistant.

"I guess… she's not ready."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~Anon's POV~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Uuuuugh…"

Where are you? What happened? And more importantly… why do you feel wet? Opening your eyes, you rub at the sleep from them, trying to wake up. You see clouds, along with a small pattering of rain. Why are you outside? Trying to stand up, you trip on yourself, tumbling downwards. And now you're met with nothing but air.

"SSSHHHIIII—"

It wasn't a long fall. You hit the ground in a thump, limbs spread out. Once more, it wasn't a long fall so you're not experiencing excruciating pain. That doesn't mean you're not hurt though.

"What... the fuck…"

You push yourself up and on your ass so you can sit up. Grabbing your shirt, you wipe your face from dirt and mud as best as you can. Taking a glance around, you see that you've fallen off a roof. Why were you up there to begin with?

Better question, where the hell are you? There are a lot of trees all over the place, shrubbery everywhere… and that's not a real house.

_Just think for a moment_, you tell yourself. You remember that you played music on the iPod, Vinyl liked it, Octavia got upset for some reason, then the roof…

Fuck. You nearly forgot Vinyl drugged you with pony pot. You're somewhat peeved you couldn't see the star shower without thinking everything was being painted across the sky. After a while, Octavia came up and said she wanted to talk to Vinyl when she got the chance. Then some more watching the stars and talking, and then…

Nothing. Just great, can't even remember what happened. Slowly standing up, you feel a bruise forming on your back, most likely from the fall. It's also fairly cold. And once again, you're wet. You need to get out of this before you catch a cold.

Of course, you take stock of where you're currently at. And it's not someplace you really recognize.

"Where the fuck am I?"

You're not in town anymore. In fact… you're someplace you REALLY DON'T WANT TO BE!

The Everfree Forest. You're inside the _fucking_ Everfree Forest, and you have no idea how you got here. Also, this house isn't really a house. It's more like a hut. Why are you out here? Why were you sleeping on this hut?

"What the fuck happened last night!"

There's a shuffling of noise behind you. Shit! You forgot this place has things like manticores in it! Slowly turning around, you come face to face with a… zebra?

"I see you are awake at last, and quite curious about last night's past."

Okay, that's weird.

"Yeeeeah… I have no idea what happened."

"Come inside so that we may speak, if memories forgotten you truly do seek."

And she rhymes! Yeah, that's just what you need right now, a zebra with a Dr. Seuss fetish.

_Uuuuuuuugh_, you groan in your head. _I really don't want to deal with this stupid shit right now… _You follow her anyways. It's better being with someone than alone in this horrid forest.

"You came just in time in the early hour; the rain is reported to soon begin its shower."

And would you look at that? It's like you're in some type of African tribal hut, or some shit like that.

_Okay, seriously, where's my iPod when I need to play some Toto?_

"I'm sorry to say, but I have no idea who you are or why I'm out here in the first place. Mind helping me out?"

The zebra chuckles to herself, motioning you to take a seat on a wicker couch.

"I am Zecora, the Everfree zebra. As for your night of strangeness and your current forgetful thoughts, it comes from the consumption to what you called 'pony pot'. "

"…Strangeness?"

"You were acting bonkers, crazy, weird; it's as if your mind was fogged up from a mess so uncleared."

That's fucking fantastic.

"How exactly does that work? From my world, the most that pot did was making someone higher than a kite."

Zecora gives you a questioning look.

"Ehr, that's just a phrase. Pretty much, all pot did whenever someone took it was make them extremely lax in their actions, amongst other things."

You don't really remember much else. It's not like you took it while in college unless your friends tricked you.

"While many beings take the 'pot' as a recreational act, the more that is taken the stronger the impact."

"I suppose I understand that, but why did it make me forget most of last night? I can't remember anything at all. You also said I was doing some things last night, most likely things I would never do. That's not something that pot should do."

Zecora hums to herself, trying to think of something to reply. You think she's just trying to find the perfect thing to rhyme.

"I can't come up with anything since your reactions are not the norm; it's possible it's due to your unique, alien… form."

So it's most likely because the plant isn't something your body is used to. Just great.

"I better head back into town, then. I just hope I haven't done anything too stupid last night."

Getting up, you start walking out of Zecora's hut. The rain isn't too bad thankfully. There's just one problem you forgot.

"Hey Zecora, how do I get out of the forest?"

"Walk straight along that long and worn down path; do not stray or you shall feel the forest's wrath."

"Right. And sorry about sleeping on your roof."

She waves it off with a smile, standing at her doorway.

"A favor might I ask before you go? When you see Vinyl, tell her I expect her to show."

"…Did Vinyl do something last night?"

She shakes her head at you. "The plant she got from me that was hash; she has yet to pay me with cash."

…So SHE'S the reason that you got drugged up last night!

_Just turn the fuck around, don't look back at her, and walk back to Ponyville_, you say to yourself. You don't want to do anything stupid. It was only a little ways from Zecora's place that you heard a roar. You… may have screamed like a little girl, completely forgetting your current anger and replacing it with fear.

"HOLY MARY'S TITS!"

You can't recall running as fast as you have at that moment. You swore at the moment you had Kenyan blood in you. You didn't stop until you saw the first house outside the forest. Thank god, it's Fluttershy's home. Arriving at her door, you collapse on your knees and hands, panting for air.

"Fuck… that gay-ass… fucking forest…"

Sweat and rain cover your body along with your clothes clinging to your body in a very uncomfortable way. There's definitely going to be chafing later on. After calming your poor heart down, you stand back up and knock on the door. You wait for a few moments before knocking again.

Strange. Is she not home? It's in the middle of the day, so she'd be up by now. _I Might as well walk into town instead of talking to Fluttershy and getting dry. _You'd like to go back to Lyra's right now, but you need to go collect your cloak and try to figure out if you've done anything stupid. You're just lucky you don't have any work today or tomorrow. The rain's let up a little bit ago, which is nice to see. You didn't see anyone else outside right now, though it was raining for a good chunk of you walk.

Walking up to Vinyl's place, you go up to the door and pound on it. After a few seconds, you hear something moving from the other side of the door. The door creaks open, where you see Octavia instead of Vinyl.

"…Anon? What are you doing here so early in the morning?"

"Picking up my cloak, it definitely wasn't with me after I woke up in the Everfree Forest, so I'm assuming it's still here."

"…Why were you sleeping in the Everfree Forest?"

"Vinyl," you answer. It's really all that you need to say.

Octavia sighs hearing that. She opens the door, inviting you inside. Now where the fuck is your cloak?

"I'll go wake up Vinyl so she can dry you using magic."

"You don't have to bother her with that. I can just get my cloak and be on my way."

"No, Vinyl's the one responsible for last night; she'll at least help with getting you dry. Though… why were you in the forest? I can't see Vinyl forcing you in there."

"She also drugged me with pony pot," you answer.

"Pony… Oh. Darn it, Vinyl. I'll just… go get her."

You continue standing there, not wanting to soak their couch with water and caked mud on your ass. Octavia returns with a stumbling Vinyl, who groans out in protest.

"Tavi, I want to sleeeeeeeeep," she groans out, rubbing her eyes. It's still strange not seeing her without those goggles on.

"How about you help our guest out before you do so."

"I don't know why anypony would be visiting us this early or why you'd invite-"

She stops talking once she sees you standing there.

"...Anon! Dude, what brings you here this morning?"

You deadpan at her question. Vinyl looks at Octavia with a questioning look, only seeing her deadpan as well.

"What?"

"Vinyl, I was here last night for the star shower, remember?"

"Sure I do, how can I forget your silly dancing last night?"

…You were dancing? Pony pot's not something you want to try again if you're bound to forget things after taking it.

"Well… you also fell off the roof several times as well. B-but don't worry! I caught you _just_ before you hit the ground! …Most of the time, at least."

Or you forgot because of that.

"Vinyl, I spent the night in the forest sleeping in the rain. Why'd you leave me out there?"

"…Um, let me think… Oh! The star shower was just ending when you decided you wanted to take a walk through a forest?"

"That doesn't make sense at all. Why would I want to do that?"

"You said something about looking at where you dropped from the sky."

"Why would you allow me to wonder off like that?"

Vinyl lets out a chuckle. "Buck that! I went with you out in town! And you were really loud drew in a crowd, which soon turned into a righteous party, dude! You even got a bonfire set up over by the edge of the forest where everypony was jumping around and having a good time!"

Vinyl started telling you all about last night and how you were acting what you would describe as a complete loony. At the end of it all, everyone apparently waved you off as you walked into the forest… alone… in the dark… and you wound up sleeping on Zecora's roof somehow.

_Goddamn it, Vinyl…_ You need some more responsible friends.

Without warning, you feel the sides of you warm up all of a sudden, drying your clothing and removing the caked mud.

"See? All better, right?"

You don't answer her as you check your body over to make sure all the dirt is off of you. Vinyl can sweep it up with the rest of the dried mud she threw on the ground anyways.

"You'll be lucky that Anon here doesn't tell Lyra you had him partying all night long."

"Psh, I doubt she'll ca-"

"Or that you drugged him with something that could've potentially killed him."

…Vinyl's now at your feet, wrapping her front legs around you, and begging you to keep your mouth shut.

"Look, it's fine. Just don't _ever_ drug me again, okay?"

"I really don't see the bi-" She sees your staring down at her, not in the joking mood. "Okay, I won't drug you without your consent from now on."

She jumps up from the ground, levitating all the dirt and leaving with it all before you could comment on what she just said.

"Right. Well, I better get back to Lyra's. She's probably wondering where I'm at right now."

You told her you'd be gone until the next day. You forgot to tell her when you'd be back though. It's pretty far in the afternoon already. As you're leaving, Octavia calls out to you.

"Yes?"

"Well, you seem too accepting of Vinyl more or less drugging you last night. If it was me, I'd be a lot more upset than what you currently are… which is more passive than anything."

"I… don't… really know," you slowly say, scratching your head at that. "I suppose maybe I should be as well. Something seems off though, like it's not a big thing even though I know it is… It just doesn't feel like a big deal right now, you know?"

"That _might_ be the drug, Anon. It could still be in your system and altering your actions right now. It almost appears like you're just _way_ too mellow." She pokes your body, forcing you to sway away.

"See? Even your body seems to just move passively with me. That's just weird."

"Octavia, I doubt that the drug is still in my body. Usually this stuff should be filtered out, right?"

"Don't forget, this isn't your world, Anon. Our stuff might have different effects on you that neither ponies nor even you could know the reaction to. If I were you, I'd be more careful of my actions today. Maybe you should head home and sleep this day off."

"I doubt I'll be sleeping the day off, though I appreciate you looking out for me like this."

You walk up to her and bend down, giving her a tight hug. And there's the little 'squee' sound you get whenever a hug is performed. Though the pitch differs from ponies, it's almost like they all have this. Admittedly, it's also one of the most adorable damn things about them.

"S-see?!" Octavia squeaks out with a red blush on her face. "I barely know you, and here you are giving me _hugs_!"

"So?" you say, shrugging it off. "I still consider you a friend even though we've only known each other for a small amount of time. Besides, I'm pretty much used to hugs by now. You can blame Lyra and Bon Bon for that."

She blinks at that. "Lyra, I expect… but Bon Bon?"

Once again, you shrug it off.

"Okay then, I won't try to bother you too much more. Just, try not to do anything you won't regret later on. Oh, and also… last night… when you showed me that music, um… Is there any more of that on the grey box?"

"Sure. I can't remember if there's any more electric cello stuff, but I do know there's electric violins and guitars. Oh right, I nearly forgot."

Walking over to a table, you grab a nearby quill with ink along with some paper, making a list of genres for them. You should tell them later on there are pens now.

"Here," you say, handing the paper to her. She takes it with her mouth. "I'd recommend _not_ listening to that stuff if you don't want to be frightened. My kind likes to sing about just about anything, and I'm certain some of it will easily offend you."

"Riftth," she answers back with the note still in her mouth.

"Oh, and tell Vinyl that Zecora expects her to show up with bits for the pony pot last night."

Octavia places the note down near her cello case that was lying beside the wall.

"Ah, now I know where Vinyl's been getting her stuff from finally."

"So Vinyl's been keeping that from you? What, are you going to stop her from going there from now on?"

She shakes her head. "No, I remember what you said last night. Hash isn't exactly frowned upon around here. I just know that Vinyl also gets her teas and herbs for cooking from her supplier as well, but would never tell me who it was. Now I can get some stuff on my own time."

"Eh, okay then. Maybe you can show me sometime what that stuff is."

Leaving the house, you see the rain's still pattering away. At least you now have your cloak on. It's not really helping much with the rain though. You should get Rarity to make a coat for you. The rain immediately ceases from hitting you. You take notice since the rain continues on everywhere else. Looking up, you see a white cloud that's above you, stopping the grey clouds from raining on you.

"Hey there, Anon!" you hear from the familiar voice of Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, Dash. You're a total lifesaver, you know? Thanks for the cloud!"

Now you can get back to Lyra's without having to deal with that.

"The rain's supposed to stop in a few minutes anyways, it's no big deal. But… I sort of have to ask for a favor from you."

That's… weird. What can you even help her with? You never told Lyra when you'd be back, so you can take your time.

"Sure, Dash. What do you need help with?"

"I… need you to talk to Twilight."

"…What?"

"She's acting really off ever since she came back last night from Canterlot. She said she was going to talk to Princess Celestia about something. When she came back, she looked like somepony burnt down her entire library and convinced her magic isn't real!"

"And how exactly am I supposed to help with that? No offense, but you're better friends with her than I am. I've only known her for about a month now."

"See, that's the thing. All she'd comment on was that it had something to do with her failing a major friendship lesson and it involved you somehow."

Friendship lesson? That _sort of_ sounds familiar to you for some reason.

"The girls and I have been trying to think of something to get her to come out and stop being locked away in that tree of hers, so I thought I'd come out to find you! Maybe _you_ can find something to help with this, since whatever she's so grumpy about involves you in the first place."

What the hell did you do to make Twilight lock herself inside that tree of hers?

"Yeah, I suppose I can talk to her. I did just agree after all."

"Thanks! See, I knew you'd be cool with helping out!"

Dash keeps the cloud above you as you walk towards the library. You pass Lyra's place, noticing some weird shit going on over there. What the f-

"Anon, you're slowing down!" Rainbow Dash says. "We need to hurry up! The sooner this is over with, the sooner things will be back to normal."

"Define normal," you reply, walking away.

Hopefully nothing wrong's happening over at Lyra's place. The rain stops soon enough, just like what Dash said. She releases her cloud and drops beside you, walking alongside you.

Some of the ponies you pass wave at you or holler at how much fun last night was.

"What are they talking about? Did I miss something last night?"

"Yeah. I more or less may have started a bonfire that turned into a party last night."

Dash gives you a smile at that before freezing up.

"Ooooh boy, that's not good. The girls and I were at Twilight's all last night or at our houses, so we didn't know about it."

"And why's that not good?"

"Pinkie will flip her lid once she finds out she missed a party."

Fuck, she's right. You're day's getting worse and worse. Hopefully this Twilight thing won't be too much of a problem, and you can find a way for Pinkie not to go nuts. Arriving at the library, you see the other 'elements'. They're all standing there, looking at the door.

"Hey girls!" Rainbow Dash calls out, getting their attention. "Look who I found!"

"Anon"!" the girls call out.

"Hey there," you call back. "Dash here tells me that something's wrong with Twilight, and for some reason it might involve me somehow."

They look to one another, then turning back to you.

"You can say that, darling," Rarity says. "She seems quite down for some reason, and you're the only thing that keeps coming up whenever we can get her to talk."

"I keep trying to offer her a party to cheer her up, but she won't reply to me!" Pinkie sits there, looking sad. "That makes me upset she wouldn't want one…"

Dash pushes you forward to the four others. "I'm certain that Anon here can talk to her and cheer her back up, no problem!"

You better get this over with. Just as you're about to go to the library, Applejack speaks up.

"I dunno about that, partner. I mean, she's upset _because_ of Anon. Who's to say that she won't try something?"

…And now you're walking backwards, away from the five.

"Don't listen to her, Anon!" Rainbow Dash says, flying beside you. "She won't do anything stupid like that! I'm sure of it!"

She wasn't here when Twilight broke your nose. Or kept trying to take pieces off of you… Still, she probably won't do anything with the others out here. Especially since she'd get caught the moment it does.

"Just promise me that if I don't come back out in thirty minutes, you'll kick the door down and make sure I'm alright."

Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes before agreeing, along with the others. Turning back around, you walk up to the door and give it a few knocks… Nothing. Looking behind you, they tell you to try harder. So you knock harder on the door before calling out.

"Twilight?! It's me, Anon."

It takes a few moments for something to happen. The door glows purple, opening up for you. Looking back on last time, you proceed forward as the door closes behind you. It's extremely dark inside the library. The windows are completely closed off from the outside. Looking around, you see some movement on the couch.

Walking forward, you see it's Twilight. She's sitting there, staring at you. She looks like a complete mess right now.

"Hey there, Twilight. The girls told me something was wrong and that maybe I can help out with that?" She doesn't respond. Twilight turns her head away from you. "So where's that little dragon assistant of yours anyways? Shouldn't he be down here, or-"

"He's at Canterlot still, for… reasons." She pauses for a moment. "Anon… do you hate me?"

What kind of question is _that_?!

"What _exactly_ do you mean by that, Twilight?"

It takes her a moment to say anything.

"W-when I went to Canterlot yesterday, I wasn't sure what the princess wanted. Everything prior to me going there, I thought I was doing the right thing."

"What are you talking about?"

"The princess, she wanted to talk about my week with you..."

Ooooooh… shit. Now you know what she's talking about.

"I don't exactly _hate_ you, Twilight."

"…But you dislike me for my actions, don't you?"

"Things… could've been better, that's true."

"S-see, I thought I was doing the right thing. And when you didn't mention it later on, I thought you knew I was only checking every angle on you. I should've been thinking on how my actions were affecting you, and not how I could better impress the princess."

Wait, what?!

"You were doing all that to _impress the princess_?!"

Whoops, you raised your voice there for a second. Twilight flinches back, shrinking herself into the couch.

"I-I-I-I-"

Twilight tries to find something to say, but with each passing moment she shrinks more into herself until she's completely balled up, sniffling to herself.

This day's really turning shitty. Walking over to a chair, you grab it, taking it over to Twilight to sit in front of her. You wait until she's calmed down some before attempting to talk to her.

"Twilight, why did you want to impress the princess?"

"I… I don't know."

"It should be easy to answer if you give it some thought. Now, try again. Why did you want to impress the princess?"

You really hate talking like this. But with how Twilight broke down so damn easily moments ago, it feels like this is something she needs to get off her chest. Also, it might help with future actions.

"I just… I just wanted to show the princess that I can be really good at anything she gives me. Any task that I'm given, I can do it and even _more_! It's… led to some problems in the past. B-but I _feel_ like I'm not doing enough, so I go above and beyond what's needed."

"That led to you trying to take samples from me, along with some other things that have happened like how you attacked me for no reason."

"Th-There's a reason I did that, I was just too embarrassed to say why."

"…And that is?"

"W-well, I was in estrus that week and I hadn't gotten the chance to take my pills… and you s-sort of grabbed my horn, and…"

And you know where this is leading to. So she freaked out because you grabbed her horn and… was getting off to it. God damn it.

"Okay, I can see that partially being my fault. You still shouldn't have attacked me like that. I had no idea that would've affected you like that at the time."

"I'm sorry. I really am, I… I just don't know why I do these idiotic things to impress the princess!"

Whatever just happened, it seems to have let loose with Twilight more or less spilling out so much of her doubts and past fuck ups. You sit there, consoling her the entire way through. Back in college, you took some counseling classes, thinking they'd help with talking to people. And now your lessons are being used to… help Twilight out. This feels really fucking weird.

You know you want to feel mad at her, if only for the horrible week that you can't forget. Anger isn't going to get you anywhere right now, or in the future. You're not sure how long you've been sitting there with Twilight. She seems better with everything out in the open.

"Do you feel better now?"

"Yeah… yeah, I do feel better."

"Look, Twilight. You shouldn't be overworking yourself all the time. You don't need to impress the princesses either. Instead of thinking how to impress the princess's view of you, you should be working on how to better yourself so they can see you improve."

"That's what Princess Celestia told me, and many times as well. I… I don't know why, but it feels better coming from you and how you're saying it. "

"How exactly _did_ the princess go about talking to you yesterday?"

"She… she told me what I did wrong, and then gave me a punishment…"

Twilight doesn't say what her punishment is. You won't push her into revealing it even though you sort of want to know what she was punished with.

"I should probably also tell my friends what I did…"

"Whoa there," you say, somewhat surprised to hear that. "Why would you want to tell your friends what you did to me?"

"You said it yourself just a little bit ago. I shouldn't keep things bottled up, and that makes a lot of sense to me. I _feel_ like I need to tell them, if only to get this out of me and to move on." Twilight fidgets in her seat, looking at you. "I… I really am very sorry for what I did to you. I wish I could change my actions if given the chance."

"It's fine. We just need to move on, right? It's not like we can go back in the past to change things."

"Actually, I already tried that with a spell. I could only go back for seven point eighty-nine seconds and it sort of resulted in… why you got your tooth chipped… Sorry about that too."

Fucking unicorns and their seemingly illogical ways to fix things. Or that could just be Twilight. No, Lyra's the same too. Speaking of Lyra…

"I should probably go now. Lyra's most likely expecting me by now to be back, so yeah."

"Okay then, and thanks; for talking to me, I mean."

Giving her a nod, you get up from your chair and put it back before walking to the door and opening it to leave. That's where you're met with a pair of hooves slamming into your stomach.

"HUUURGH!"

You are now lying on the ground, groaning in immense pain. The only damn thing these ponies can do to hurt you is their damning hind legs, and you just got a pair of them into the gut.

"Anon!" Rainbow Dash screams out. "Oh boy, I am _totally_ sorry for that! You sort of DID say to come in after thirty minutes, so…"

You're just happy she didn't aim any lower. Rarity lifts you up off the ground and places you back on the chair you only seconds ago placed back near the table.

"Twilight!" Pinkie squeals out, zooming at her. She collides straight into her, squeezing her body for a hug. "Please tell me you're all better now!"

"Yes, Pinkie. I'm feeling much better now thanks to Anon. Also, I have something I need to talk to you girls about."

And that's when you need to leave. Unfortunately, your gut still feels like a semi-truck slammed into it, so your forced to sit in the chair and slumped against the table it's in front of. After all the girls enter the door, they close it and crowd around Twilight, leaving you no room to leave. Meaning you're stuck here as she tells everyone about her week with you.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

You have just experienced one of the most awkward moments in your life as Twilight told everyone there about her week with you. They're fairly shocked to hear some of the things she tried to do, and even berated her for her actions which she accepted. There was so much anger, then crying, then anger with crying, then just crying once more. Of course, this wasn't the worst part.

No, fucking _Fluttershy_ out of all the ponies there had to point out you were _still there_ and then things went straight into hell for you. How did they all forget you were there, and yet keep talking about you? You swore you were tasting spaghetti right then. So much damn hugging and crying, your body was not ready for the pony pile up on you.

You're also very late now. Everyone started leaving, saying they had things to do before they head home for the day. It's nice to finally get back to Lyra's yourself. Today's been such a stressful day for you.

"Why, hello there, Anon!"

And it seems to continue on for you. Turning around, you spot a pony you don't recognize. She has a large, red hairdo with a hairband on it. She has cherries placed all over it.

"Um… hello?"

"I am so glad I found you, honey! Last night's little rendezvous outside of the Everfree was spectacular! Why, I've never been to a bonfire before!"

"I'm… glad that you enjoyed it?"

You still don't remember anything.

"I'm sorry, but I seem to have misplaced your name in my other coat pocket."

She lightly chuckles at that. "It's Cherry Jubilee. I'm only visiting here to sell of my latest shipment, and I got word of something happening with the," she coughs to herself, "local alien last night."

"So you had to come down to the party and get a look?" She blushes at your comment. "I don't blame you for it. If it was back home, I'd probably do the same thing."

"Yes, well, I definitely had more fun than I intended to. You even danced with me and told me we can possibly do some things today."

Ah fuck.

"Before I ask what it is I asked us to do, what exactly did I do last night? Last night's a bit of a daze to me unfortunately."

It's best to find out from someone else other than Vinyl, who's more likely to skew her story. Cherry gives you a questioning look from what you asked.

"Did you really forget it? Oh, wait. I see, you must've had too much salt and got drunk. That's understandable why you'd forget then."

Salt? That's right; these ponies get drunk off the stuff, along with powdered sugar. They don't know yet that stuff doesn't affect you at all.

"Yeah, I might have gotten too buzzed last night." That's a pretty believable lie.

"The way you were acting last night, everypony there would have to assume so!"

"Right…"

"As for last night, you mostly went around dancing like crazy with your strange dance moves. Why, many ponies will forever remember them, such as 'the worm' or 'the Macarena'! And who could EVER forget 'the hammer?"

"…The hammer?"

"Why, yes! It's where you stand on both hooves and shuffle back and forth on the ground. I recall you screaming out 'It's hammer time' whenever you did it."

You face palm, hard. _I'm such a fucking idiot showing that to them. Hopefully, they don't emulate the dance later on._

"Other than the dancing, you also had fun talking about your world and some stories about _college_. Mostly though, you stuck with me for most of the night saying you found my hair to be absolutely phenomenal and you wanted to stay near and look at it."

You _sound_ like you were a fucking idiot last night.

"Anyways, I saw you and figured I'd see about talking to you before I left for my orchard today."

"What did you want to talk about?"

"Well, you invited me over for a night of fun, but you stated you needed to go into the Everfree. So you instead said that we could do that today, where you would 'pop my cherry'!"

OH GOD! YOU SAID THAT?!

You have a hard time trying to reply to her. It's like your tongue immediately fattened up, making speech difficult.

"Since there's enough time before I left, I figure we can proceed to have some fun!"

Please… just stop…

"I even brought a bundle of cherries here in my saddlebag. I'm very interested to find out how this can be as enjoyable as you made it sound last night. So let's go back to your place and proceed with the popping of cherries!"

Oh thank god! She doesn't know what that means! Now, just to get out of it.

"I apologize, but now's not a good time for anything. I have to get back to Lyra's since I'm horribly late."

Cherry lets out a groan hearing that.

"I am saddened to hear that. Maybe we can do it some other time? I suppose I should go to the train station and board it back home early with nothing else to do. You take care, okay?"

"…You too."

You turn the fuck around and head straight to Lyra's place. You were done dealing with all this strange shit for the day, and some settling down would be really nice.

Of course, when adding Lyra into the mix of anything, nothing can be as simple as you'd like it to be. Arriving back at Lyra's , you see an enormous amount of construction taking place at her house. Did something happen?!

"HEY!" you call out to one of the construction ponies. It's fairly loud right now, so you have to scream. "WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"

"WE'RE DOING RENOVATIONS!"

Renovations? What could he mean by that? You'll find out in a second, since Lyra's now running at you with a smile.

"Anon! You're back!"

"Yeah, sorry for being out so late. Nice hat."

She's wearing a construction hat too. She giggles at you.

"So what's with all this here?"

"Oh! I got them out here to begin making your new room!"

"What?"

"Well, I asked the princess if an extra room would be fine, and she agreed to it! She'll be providing the bill for this, and it'll even be done in around two weeks or so!"

God damn it! Lyra probably just lost your one favor from the princess.

"Why, Lyra? Just… why?"

She tilts her head at you. "What do you mean? I thought you wanted your own place and space? So, I went ahead and got a room made up with your size in mind!"

"Lyra, I wanted to talk about this before these decisions were made."

"I thought we talked about this yesterday."

"No, we talked about some of the things we would be discussing today, Lyra." You rub your forehead, trying to fight back the oncoming headache. "Can't I have a week without any of this craziness from happening? Even a day would be nice. From being experimented on, to never getting a moments rest from all of you crazy ponies!"

You walk a few feet away, looking off towards Ponyville. With the rain gone, they go back to their usual day of selling things at stand and talking.

"I'm not trying to vent here. It's just, I'm still not used to all of this," you say, throwing your palm out to Ponyville. "All of this: the strange magic, the multiple beings all around, all this craziness. I just… I need a small break from this."

A small nudge could be felt on your leg. Looking down, you see Lyra staring back up at you with a frown on her face.

"I'm really sorry, Anon. I keep forgetting you're still technically an alien to all of this."

Bending down, you lower yourself in a crouch.

"Lyra, there's nothing to apologize about. You've been helping me with this ever since I've been here."

"No, I should! I mean, even though you've been here away, you've helped me out along with other ponies here! You weren't obligated to, and yet you did!"

"Well, sure. If anyone needed help, I would help."

"But… no _one's_ helped you out at all!"

"Sure they have. For instance, you've helped me out with a place to stay and even fed me and kept me company, along with Bon Bon of course. The ponies you showed me a month ago helped teach me a lot about you ponies. Not to mention getting me a job, a-"

"No, I mean helped _you_ out. Nopo… no _ones_ helped you by just talking to you, trying to understand who you are as a being, only what you are… I've p-probably been like that too…"

Fuck. She looks like she's about to cry now.

"Look, Lyra. You have helped me out by talking to me, remember?"

"N-no, I haven't. I didn't even discuss this moving in thing with you! I-I'm a horrible friend!"

God damn it! Why are these ponies so damn emotional?!

"Lyra, I just wanted to discuss with you about moving in. I doubt you really want me in your hair all the time or actually living with you long term, along with other things."

"Long term? Is it… is it because you want your own home back? That you'd rather live there than here?"

"Lyra, I'm not saying I don't dislike living with you."

"That's not what I meant. I mean… do you want to go back _home_ instead? Is that what you mean?"

You blink at her answer. To be honest with yourself… you haven't really thought about that too much; the getting home part.

"I'm not even sure if it's possible for me to get back home, Lyra."

"But what if it was? What then?"

How the hell did this conversation lead to this?

"I'm not sure. I doubt anyone back home would even believe it's me, since I'm certain they all think I'm dead by now."

The last thing you did was that protest, which leads to the incident of you getting here. So they'd definitely believe you're dead. Even if you went home and somehow got them to believe that you came back… what then?

"Lyra, I don't think it really matters right now. Unless someone manages to find a spell to bring me home, which I doubt is at all possible, I guess you'll be seeing a lot more of me from now on."

"What if you _do_ get back home? Will you make sure to visit, or remember me? Will you… stay my friend?"

"If I can manage to find a way back here, I'll try my best to visit. And yes, I'll stay your friend no matter what, Lyra."

You need to ask someone like Bon Bon what was up with Lyra and this 'friend' thing. Lyra rubs her eyes, looking back up at you.

"So, you're fine with that? Living with us, I mean? Y-you don't want to live somewhere else, or…"

"It's perfectly fine. You've already got a room being built for me anyways. I highly doubt I would've been able to afford a home anyways."

Unless they're extremely cheap, then you'd be upset if that's true.

"R-right! It'll be the bestest best room you'll ever have!"

"Alright then, Lyra. You should probably get going back to… whatever it was you were doing. I think I need to take a small walk before coming back."

A nice long breather from more craziness sounds pretty nice right about now. Lyra gives you a smile, running back to her home… or what'll be your home soon enough as well. You see Bon Bon walking up to you from the corner of your eye, being followed by the crew of construction ponies. They quickly disperse, going back to work as Bon Bon greets you.

"Hello, Anon."

"Bon Bon," you greet back with a nod.

"I see Lyra decided to go with the room."

"…From the sounds of it, you didn't know anything about this."

"No, I didn't. I was gone most of the day, trying to get a head start making some candy for the stand." She looks to the construction going on, then looking back at you. "You're not mad she went ahead with this without talking to you?"

"How do you know that?"

"It's pretty obvious, from what I saw. I took the construction ponies on a break so the two of you could talk in peace."

Ah. That explains why you didn't hear any work being done.

"In the end, it looks like I'll be living with the two of you from now on; or at least, for the time being."

"You plan on moving in the future?"

You just shrug your shoulders.

"Who knows what the future holds. From what I've seen here, you ponies go with the flow, more or less. Since I'm living here, I have to follow that as well."

"It's nice to know you'll be sticking around here with us then."

"Right."

"…Hey, not to but in or anything, but I have to ask you something."

"Oh?"

"First off, what's with this whole Lyra asking about friends? She keeps asking me if I'll leave or if I'm really her friend. Why is that?"

Bon Bon frowns at the question. "So, you finally asked. I wondered how long until you would."

"Has this been going on for a while?"

"…Sort of. You see, when Lyra was younger, she had those dreams she told you about, the ones on the different aliens and all."

"Okay?"

"Well, when she was young she wanted to share those dreams with others. She tried telling everypony about them. Long story short, everypony made fun of her. This kept with her as time went on. Nopony wanted to be friends with the strange one, so they kept away from her."

"Strange one? Every single one of you is strange. Uh, no offence."

"None taken. And that's the truth, we all have our quirks. Lyra's was just easier to make fun of than others. So, I stuck with her, helping her out. It never really got better, how people looked at her. Although with you here, at least she can have solid proof she was right."

"So what? She got clingy with the few friends she had because of that?"

Bon Bon shakes her head. "No, nothing like that at all. She's just always has doubts on if any of her friends would stay friends for long. It's… well, it's…" Bon Bon lets out a sigh, trying to think of something to say.

"It's fine, I think I get the picture now."

"It's not like that anymore, for the most part. Things can be hard to move away from if you've lived like that the entire time, right?"

You turn from her, looking at the construction site. You see Lyra jumping around, talking to the workers as they start what you assume is the foundations to your new room.

"…Anon, it sounded like you had something else to say. "

"Ah, right. I was just going to ask you if your plan on Lyra's working out."

"Oh, that? Well… it seems to be working on my end."

"Your end?"

She nods her head at you. "Yes. I needed to see things differently for this to work. I… think it's working. It sure feels like it might be. I just need to find a way to make it work on the other end, too."

Bon Bon must be referring to Lyra. You give her a smile, which she returns.

"I hope it works out for you, whatever it is you're doing."

"…Yeah."

"I'm going to go on that walk now. I'll be back in a little while, okay?"

She gives you another nod, heading towards Lyra after that. You start heading off into the park for the day. It seems like a nice place for some peace and quiet.

The walk to the park is extremely annoying to you. Not that anyone's been bugging you at all, just the occasional greeting and small talk. No… the stalkers back. This one seems to be alone this time around. And once again, it's not very good at hiding its presence.

Walking into the park didn't even deter the stalker from leaving you be. You're getting tired of this, so you decided to do something about it finally. You walk to a group of trees, forcing your stalker to come in if the fella wants to continue following you. Of course, you're hiding in a bush waiting for such a thing to happen.

And would you look at that, the stalker went right in making this easy for you. Just as the shadowy pony passes you by, you jump right out in front of the pony, where he screams in fright at you. The pony's completely covered in black clothing, making him easier to hide in the dark. The thing is… the stalkers much smaller than what you expected; also young… very, very young.

"What are you doing following me?"

"I-I-I just wanted to get a good story for the Foal Free Press, mister alien!"

"The what?"

"The Foal Free Press! It's our school newspaper and I was just trying to get something on you for it!"

There's no way that the little pony children from that school have been stalking you this entire time… right?

"How long have you been following me like this?"

"Um, I think… ever since you came to class?"

Is that when the stalking first started? You can't easily remember the time.

…Fuck. You've been getting paranoid over a few small ponies that just wanted info on you for their school newspaper. You should've confronted them sooner.

"What exactly did you want?"

"I just wanted to find out a little more about you, for the newspaper!"

This could certainly help spread out who you are to the rest of the ponies that haven't met you yet. It's also not like he's asking for much.

"Yeah, I don't see why not. I can answer a few questions; I'd prefer to walk and talk, maybe even find a bench to sit down."

The foal seems extremely happy hearing that. He quickly stands beside you, introducing himself as Featherweight. He seems pretty enthusiastic about his little project on finding information about the alien for his newspaper. The two of you walk off with you answering a few questions for him about yourself along the way.

You miss the shadow following you, listening to what you have to say.

~End Chapter Thirteen~


	15. Chapter Fourteen - Something Unexpected

Chapter Fourteen - And Now For Something Unexpected

The other day went by fairly quickly after you talked to that little colt in the park. He kept you there for a good while, talking about things you've already went over with Lyra.

Fairly simple stuff, really. You made sure to use your words carefully, seeing as word spreads very easily around here and the kid _might_ skew what you say mistakenly. You went back after talking to the colt since it was getting dark. Thankfully, the construction was done for the day.

Last night is _not_ an enjoyable night at Lyra's. So much of the place is torn apart downstairs for the workers making space for your room. Another thing about that, the construction workers aren't allowing you, Lyra, or Bon Bon to be in the house until they're done with the work.

After finding out about you sleeping at the house last night, those ponies went on to berate the three of you, meaning Lyra, about staying there. Long story short, you can't stay there until they're done with the house. Meaning you have to live elsewhere for the time being…

Lyra assured both you and Bon Bon it shouldn't take longer than three weeks. You question her about that, saying she originally said two weeks.

"I may have talked to the princess about the condition of the house and she said the workers would be paid extra to improve it."

Lyra _has_ trashed the place plenty of times. You can see why extra improvements would need to be done on the place. Lyra will be working with the ponies, pointing things out and telling them what to do to improve the home. From the looks of things, she volunteered herself to do that. It looks like she'll be milking this as much as possible to get a better house. You'd probably do the same if you were her.

There aren't a whole lot of options on where the three of you can go at the moment, mostly because of you. Why didn't Lyra think this through before doing it? The only places that can accommodate you are Twilight's, Applejack's, and Vinyl's. Lyra doesn't want to be in Twilight's, and Applejack's is a place you don't want to go either.

That more or less leaves you with Vinyl. Lyra assures you that they'll take the three of you in since they're very good friends that wouldn't leave you three out in the cold. If they did, you have a feeling that Lyra would drop on the ground and turn into a sad little ball. It's quite effective in getting others to feel bad, surprisingly.

Standing outside of Vinyl and Octavia's home, Lyra gives a knock, sounding off a wapa-wapa-wapa sound with each hit.

What is with her and those weird sounds?

It doesn't take long for someone to answer it. Vinyl opens the door, staring at the three of you for a few seconds before dropping to the ground in front of Lyra, grabbing her legs, and begging for forgiveness.

It takes a few moments to get her off of Lyra and calm her down. She thought you came by with Lyra and Bon Bon to talk about her drugging you. Lyra's fairly upset hearing about it, but she said she'd look past it for the 'favor' of staying over for the time being, along with telling her about the drugging incident.

And now you're living with Vinyl and Octavia for the next three weeks. Lyra's bunked with Vinyl and Bon Bon's with Octavia, leaving you on the couch for now. _Better than the floor_, you think. Right now, it's officially your first day living with the music mares. The five of you are currently sitting at the dining room table, enjoying some daffodil omelets.

Well, the others are. You're picking all the flowers out of the food right now with a disgusted look on your face since you still have that taste in your mouth. They should've told you what's in it.

"Dude, I'm totally sorry 'bout that!" Vinyl says with a chuckle.

"It's fine," you say, even though it's not. "Just remember I can't eat certain things."

"…Can you eat hay?"

"No, I can't eat hay."

"That really sucks!"

No, it doesn't. Hay tastes nasty, no matter how many supposed flavors Lyra gets you to try out.

"So Vinyl," Bon Bon says, "how's your music going anyways? I haven't heard much about it so I'd like to know. It can't be easy since you're in uncharted territory with your lightning music."

"No, it's not. There's just so much that needs to be considered when making it." Vinyl looks up to you with a smile. "But with good ol' Anon here, I'm not having a whole lot of difficulties anymore."

"Oh?"

"He lent me his music player yesterday, and I've been listening to it ever since! There's so many ideas buzzing around up in here," she pokes her head, "that it's almost overwhelming!"

"That's good to hear," Bon Bon says, looking at you afterwards.

"It really is! SO many different things I never even thought to consider with my music. You have NO idea how badly I just want to go to my studio and work out some grooves right now!"

Wait, she has a studio? Then why is all of her stuff out in the living room?

"Aaaw," Lyra groans out. "Now I want to listen to your stuff too!"

Vinyl grins when she hears that. "Just come over to my studio over here after you're done eating!"

"I _really_ want to, but I'm supposed to be at the construction site for the day…"

Vinyl tsks at that, eating the rest of her toast quickly before answering. "Sorry to hear that. Maybe you can listen to my sounds some other time."

"What about you, Octavia?" you ask, pausing her from a bite of her food. "I mean, what are your plans for the day?"

She places her fork back down on the plate, looking off to the side at her instruments nearby.

"I'm going to be working on some things-"

"Awesome things, isn't that right?!" Vinyl interrupts with a large smile beaming at Octavia.

Octavia slumps down in her chair. "…Sure, right."

Vinyl lets out a laugh before going back to her food. You're assuming that Vinyl must've gotten Octavia to finally try out some of her own music herself.

"What about you, Anon?" Lyra asks. "Anything planned for the day?"

"No, not really. I don't need to work today, so my entire day's blank."

Maybe you can take another walk through the park? Or maybe look around Ponyville and see more of the interesting characters here?

"Well," says Bon Bon, "if you don't mind, _my_ day's pretty empty as well. You can come along if you'd like."

Out of all the ponies here, Bon Bon's the most in control of things. And it might be interesting to see what she does. She _has_ been much better around you too, so today shouldn't be troublesome at all.

"You know what? Sure, I can try that out."

Bon Bon smiles, finishing her meal at a slightly faster pace. You're still picking through your omelet, trying to get all the flowers out.

"Aw, I was going to ask Anon if he wanted to see the construction!" Lyra whines.

"I don't want to get in the way of all that. Sorry, Lyra. Maybe we can do something else later?"

"Okaaay," Lyra groans out in her seat, slumping her head on the table.

Everyone's meals, not including yours, quickly gets eaten. Everyone at the table, not including you, gets up and leaves at the same time to the kitchen, leaving you to try and finish your meal. Vinyl comes back out soon after with a new plate, placing it down beside your other plate.

"Dude, I could've just made you another one if you had just asked."

"Oh… well, thank you," you reply, poking at the new omelet.

"…There's no flowers in this one." You stare at her for a few seconds. "…Or grass. Or other things that you can't eat that Lyra just told me." You look at her for a few more seconds. "OR hash! Sheesh, I said I wouldn't do that again without your permission!"

She leaves with your other plate, making a showing of being upset and failing at the end when you see her smirk, walking into the kitchen. At least you have a new omelet. You chow down as fast as possible so you can get ready to leave with Bon Bon. You can't imagine her wanting you holding her up.

A quick shower later and you're in a set of clean clothes. You grab your bag, filled with anything you may need for 'just in case' with the ponies. Walking into the living room, you see Bon Bon talking to Octavia. You let out a small cough, and the two turn to you.

"I'm ready to leave when you are."

Bon Bon raises an eyebrow at you. "Why do you have your bag?"

"Never know when things may come handy, right? Or, ugh… is 'handy' a word here?"

"Yes, it is."

"Oh, good. Did Lyra already leave?"

"Yeah, she left ten minutes ago." Bon Bon gets up from the couch, turning to Octavia. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Very well, I suppose I should start on my… new lessons," she says, looking at her instrument to the side covered in wires.

You follow behind Bon Bon out of the house towards the town center where most of the shops are located.

"So what exactly are we doing?"

"Sorry, what?"

"I asked what we're doing today?"

"Nothing in particular. I have a lot of time off since the major candy holiday is over and everypony has enough candy for about a week or so, making any selling of the stuff completely pointless."

You blink at her answer.

"So why are we out here then?"

"I figured you could take a break from Lyra's exploits… and maybe spend some time out here with me?"

Lyra _is_ getting a bit on your nerves. Now with the drug safely gone, you're back to your good ol' self.

Yep, it's best to stay with Bon Bon for the day.

"So what's our first stop then?" you ask.

She gives you a smile, turning back towards Ponyville. "I figured that maybe we can pick up a basket of food from a stand and eat some ice cream along the way, maybe look around after we have a picnic?"

"Better than what I would probably plan today."

Which would be nothing. The two of you arrive at the stands where ponies all around holler or bargain with one another, selling their wares. Bon Bon leads you to a stand full of picnic baskets. You leave her to the pony running the stand as you look around, watching the ponies' activity.

"Hmf-kah, aeigh gut dew vhasket"

Looking down at your side, you see Bon Bon with the basket in her mouth. Reaching down, you grab it for her.

"Gotta love having hands, eh?"

"I wouldn't know. Hooves seem to be doing just fine for me."

"I don't know what I'd ever do with hooves," you say, following Bon Bon down the road. "Heck, I don't even know how you ponies deal with it at all."

"It's pretty simple. We just _do_."

_It doesn't answer how they're able to open doors or hold forks_, you think. Along your walk, Bon Bon pops up with some simple talk, but nothing major.

It's mostly just how you're feeling and trying to know you some more. The walk feels quite normal to you, and that's saying something. You're not used to things like this. Usually something major would have happened by now. It usually involves magic, Lyra, Twilight, or some other pony doing something that happens to drag you into it.

This is pretty darn nice. Almost feels like home… if home had talking ponies.

"What's that?" Bon Bon asks, stopping.

You look up to the sky where Bon Bon's staring at, seeing an enormous bird-like thing coming straight at you guys. Well, there goes the nice, simple walk you were hoping for.

Coming down, the bird thing lands right in front of you, followed by two others that you didn't notice before. Surprisingly, this creature actually has some clothes on. Strange. The bird thing looks… that's a fucking griffin, isn't it? They _sort of_ resemble those statues you recall seeing at a park back home. They just look smaller… and not as menacing.

But why are they here? Common sense, for you at least, tells you that the griffins are here for you. Maybe they wanted to meet the alien thing?

"Hello there," the griffin speaks out. "I'm assuming you are… Anonymous?"

"…Yes."

You have no idea what else to reply other than that, other than wonder why the griffin knows your name.

"Right, then. I am Delano, of the griffin kingdom. The two behind me are Auctor," he points at a griffin, with the griffin nodding his head, "and Jana," he points to the other one, another nod.

At least their genders are fairly obvious. And hey, they have normal sounding names. It's quite strange to hear after being around ponies for so long.

"We came from the griffin kingdom to talk to Princess Celestia about… discussions between our kingdoms, when she told us about you."

"About me? What do you mean by that?"

"Mostly, it was about what you are and some information about you," Jana says, looking you up and down. "And quite frankly, the pictures we were provided of you don't do you justice at _all_."

"Okay then… So what, you saw me from the sky and decided to drop on by? Or were you looking for me?"

"We only came by you merely by accident," Auctor says. "We were on our way back to our lands when we spotted you and decided to meet you. Actually seeing you is a far better alternative than reading through some documents, right?"

"I suppose," you reply, looking down at Bon Bon. "Um... did you want to talk?"

Sort of ruins the day with Bon Bon. The griffin, Delano, shakes his head at you.

"Oh, we aren't going to talk right now," Delano says. "We just wanted to meet you and get an impression of who you are. You might be invited to come stay over for a time as a guest so we can talk to you."

"Don't be surprised if you get other dignitaries from other kingdoms to talk to you soon," Jana says.

That's just great. Now you have more than the ponies to deal with. _ It was sort of bound to happen eventually, right?_

"We must be going now. Hopefully, we'll be in touch soon when we can afford to come back out here."

The three griffins take flight, heading off into the sky and quickly out of sight.

"That was unexpected."

"Agreed. I'm not sure why they came to you just _now_."

"Maybe the princess didn't tell them about me sooner because I was learning still? It would be incredibly difficult to talk to them if I can't even utter out sentences, right? What if I had said something or done something that would offend them?"

"That's true. I'll have to make sure that Lyra and I help you with this. There are a few kingdoms that you need to know about, such as their customs or what they are."

Of course, more work. Such is the life of the resident alien, trying to fit in somehow.

You follow Bon Bon to a secluded area at the park over by some trees. There's no table, but thankfully the basket holds a cloth to sit on. Also in the basket are sandwiches, along with wrapped fruits. You sigh, looking at the meal before grabbing a pear.

"I know it's not meat, but it's better than nothing… right?"

"No, it's fine," you say, taking a seat on the ground by Bon Bon. "I've gotten sort of used to this."

"Still, I wouldn't like it myself, going to an alien world and eating only meat or not having something that I'm used to."

_Some chicken would be really nice right now_, you think, taking a bite of your pear.

"Maybe I can talk to Lyra about getting your own little fridge for some… meat?"

You stop from taking another bite to look at Bon Bon. That's… extremely tempting.

"I'd prefer not eating anything that's not actually intelligent since that would feel kind of wrong."

"I know that fish is perfectly fine, though I'm not sure how you would prepare it. Fluttershy usually has some for her animals."

Yeah, that doesn't make you feel like an animal at all...

"And if you're worried about getting other meats, I'm certain that you can order them from Gryphonia or possibly get some imitation stuff from the princess."

And she tempts you more and more.

"That… Yeah, that would be nice once the house is done."

She gives you a smile and a nod before grabbing a sandwich and silently eating it.

The two of you make small talk, relaxing yourselves at the park. It's pretty good weather for it too: not too cold, nice and sunny, and without a cloud in the sky. Bon Bon's such a huge contrasting change compared to Lyra. You've been expecting something crazy to happen, but no. Nothing.

Just a relaxing talk with the candy loving mare while having a pleasantly dull picnic.

"Anon, why do you keep looking around the place like that?" A relaxing talk, involving you keeping your eye out. "Those ponies aren't stalking you still, are they?"

"No, turns out it was just a group of fillies trying to get something for their newspaper," you say, taking another look around. "I'm just making sure nothing comes crashing down on me or something unexpected happens."

"…Why?"

"Can you blame me? I'm seriously expecting some weird shit anytime now. I'm not used to how perfectly peaceful everything is right now."

Bon Bon shakes her head, looking at you. "See? Being around all the craziness looked like it was getting to you and with everything that's been happening to you recently, some time away from everything seemed like the right idea."

"...Yeah, that's true. I mean, I was still partially drugged yesterday, and just the thought of that alone was enough to piss me off."

"You just need some time away from it all, and a relaxing picnic out here is the perfect thing for you."

"And you think it won't come out here?"

Okay, that came out harsher than you meant it to. Bon Bon doesn't seem bothered by it.

"This is where I personally go for some time by myself. Trust me, you won't find much of that here… so long as you keep away from the flower sisters over there."

You look where she's pointing at, and sure enough, you see the three flower ponies.

"They're usually the only ones out here most of the time, helping with the floral arrangements in this area. Time to time, they'll freak out from something, but that's about all you have to worry about out here in this area of the park."

…And it seems you now have a new hiding place.

"So yeah, just relax a little. There's nothing that will bother you out here, okay?"

Yeah, that does sound like a good idea. Lying on the picnic cloth, you close your eyes, trying your best to relax. You lie there for a good while, enjoying the peace and quiet in this place. This feels genuinely nice.

"Hey… Anon?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I… ask you something without you thinking I'm weird about it?"

Huh. She's usually straightforward about things. Sitting back up, you scoot your back to a tree, trying to get comfortable.

"Sure, ask away."

"…Well... What…" She sighs to herself, looking away with a blush. "What do you think of us ponies?" You stare at her for a few seconds to see if she emphasizes what she's talking about. "I mean, do you find us attractive in any way? Can you find yourself eventually liking one later down the road?"

"Why are you asking me this?"

"Um…"

She looks down, playing with her hooves. Why does this remind you of when she revealed her feelings to Lyra?

"I just want to know since… well, I want to see if you can be happy here?"

"…Happy?"

"Well, don't you want companionship?"

"What?"

"I know it's hard, being alone. I just wanted to know since… not to sound off-putting, but it seems like this is going to be your home from now on. I just wanted to see you happy and with somepony is all…"

"Bon Bon, companionship really hasn't been on my mind as of late, really. I'm still trying to adjust here."

"But if given enough time here, do you think it's possible? I know that we're different species, so there are some things to get over. But once you do, do you think there's a chance?"

You sigh to yourself, rubbing the bridge of your nose.

"I really don't know, Bon Bon. Maybe someday in the future? Why'd you bring this up?"

She's still blushing, looking at you now. "I just… I wanted to know how you feel about us ponies…"

"That's really something for later on, don't you think? I've only been here less than two months, and I'm still trying to understand or come to terms with a lot of things."

"Later on… right." She looks at you, rubbing the back of her head. "Yeah, I suppose that's true. Sorry 'bout asking."

"It's fine," you say, trying to get comfortable again.

You have a feeling she'll bring this up at a later time. You're not sure if you like the idea of actually being with one. Sure, they look cute and they're fun to be around, but it's hard to get over the fact they're still ponies and not humans…

You lie there for a while longer, eyes closed and content with doing nothing at the moment. Feeling something bump into you, you open your eyes and look over, seeing Bon Bon sitting by you. She's already packed up the picnic, but hasn't bothered to tell you. _And I'm perfectly fine with that_, you think. You'll gladly spend more time with Bon Bon in the future if it's like this.

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It's been a long month for you, a month of… absolutely nothing but work and hanging around Bon Bon. This has probably been the most relaxing time you've had here. Bon Bon invited you out several times to the park or around the place whenever there was free time.

Before work, during lunch, or even after work, Bon Bon would be there. She'd usually greet you with a smile, talk a little about her day, and hear from you. It almost feels like home, having a routine like this. While it may feel like a drag doing things over and over, it's a huge contrast to the constant, random nature of ponies. You find yourself enjoying it, strange as that sounds. Lyra still pops up, adding a mixed variety in your days.

It's strange you haven't seen her as much as Bon Bon. She keeps saying it's because she has to work on the house so much, and do her work at night. She's obviously overworking herself, and an overworked Lyra is not a nice Lyra. You and Bon Bon had to get her to take plenty of breaks so she wasn't so stressed out.

As for the house…

What turned out to be two weeks that went on to three weeks, went on to four when Lyra got approval on extending the house and adding in some additional things, like a bathroom for your size. Every day you walk by there, the place looks more and more extravagant: new walls, fancier floors, even better furnishings. You only know this since the front walls were taken down, allowing you to see inside.

When you asked Lyra about all the extra stuff, thinking it's a bit over the top, she said the princess was the one that did all of this. You're not sure why she'd do that. It might have to do with those griffins you saw. They never did come back, but you're expecting them to come around at some point.

Other than that, you've been back and forth from the spa, learning how to apply better massages. It was last week that they said your lessons would finally be used for paying customers.

All last week was fucking hell for you. Only two days ago did it finally settle down, but it seems you're booked for the next month or two. Every single mare in this damn town is set up for a massage from you at some point. Even a few stallions, which slightly disturbs you.

At least the 'special' massages are few in between, since they're so expensive. Only about a dozen ponies can afford it. You sigh to yourself, still cleaning up at the spa. You've been wiping down all the boards used for massages, finished up with your day of work.

Just one more day and you'll have two days off to look forward to. Lyra even said that you might be able to look inside the house during the weekend. After a quick sweep up, you take off your spa clothing, throwing them in the bin, and head to the front of the shop. Lotus is there, taking stock of the day with Aloe.

"Alright, the back is cleaned up. Is there anything else you need?"

Lotus sighs, turning at you. "You're done for the day."

"Is there something wrong?" you ask.

You normally wouldn't ask that, seeing as pony problems are always blown out of proportion and almost always involve magic. These two, though, normally aren't like that.

"…It's our sister, Vera," Aloe says, looking at you. "Things aren't working out for her, and she asked us about possibly working here as a masseuse once more. It's sort of _your_ job right now, so we're trying to figure something out."

"We can't really blame her for leaving, if she felt more comfortable doing hair than massaging. We're still upset at her leaving us, but she's our little sister so we want to help her."

"So what, her business not doing so well?" you ask, leaning against the wall with your arms crossed.

"More or less," Aloe says, rubbing her head. "It's difficult finding ponies out there that have the talent for cutting, even more so in training them. She's having difficulties keeping up the payments on her shop and managing it."

"So why not just combine the hair salon with the day spa? She gets to keep cutting hair; you get an extra service to provide for. Everyone wins."

The two look at each other before looking back at you.

"That actually seems fairly reasonable," Lotus says, turning back to her sister. "Why didn't we think of that?"

"We can draw in more customers with additional services of a hair salon while helping our sister out!"

"We'd just need to clear out the storeroom on the side and make the room bigger. It shouldn't cost too much to do or take very long. We'll just have to tell our sister today to see how she feels about it."

"Hell, I can be her first customer," you say, standing straight up and pulling on your hair. "My own hair is getting long and a trimming would be nice."

The only reason you haven't gotten a haircut yet is because the only time you tried getting one from Vera, she showed you pictures of other ponies for styles.

Fun fact, most male ponies have long hair, and the only ones that don't have fairly spiky hair or no hair at all. You've refused having a haircut until she can manage cutting around your head. She said she'd get a training dummy based off of you to practice, so hopefully she can cut it soon. You're tired of having long hair; it's turning into a pony tail for fuck's sakes!

The two spa ponies talk a little more while you leave for the day. You're bundled up with some newly fitted clothing from Rarity: thick pants, shirt, coat, scarf, and all the works. She's using her own variation of denim, calling it 'faux denim' even though it's pretty much denim. It's a tad stiff, but warm all the same. She even made sure to keep the colors nice and dark.

Bright colors are okay, but they just look ugly to you. Rarity agreed, saying they don't match your looks… though that doesn't stop her from trying to put jewels in your clothes. She also had a local shoemaker fit you with some heavy duty boots. You don't know why these ponies have a shoemaker. Clothing, you can see, but _shoes_? Whatever, it got you some nice boots. The clothing is extremely helpful with the cold fall starting to really hit.

Bon Bon said snow wouldn't be coming in for another good month or so. Rainbow Dash even invited you to see the pegasi bring it down, which is definitely going to be awesome to see.

You're currently heading over to Bon Bon's stand. You've definitely been enjoying your month with her, and wonder what she's got cooked up for today. It's a nice break from Lyra, to be honest. That's not saying you don't like spending time with Lyra, but she can be too much to handle at times.

Speaking of Lyra, you can see her right by Bon Bon, talking to her. Walking up to them, Lyra turns to you with a smile.

"Hey, Anon!"

"Hello Lyra, Bon Bon."

"Bon Bon was just telling me that she needed to do something, so I wanted to spend some time with you!"

Looking over to Bon Bon, you see her packing up things at the stand. She looks at you, letting out a sigh.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I forgot that I needed to talk to some ponies about my job today."

"Are those ponies still giving you flack about those lemonheads and atomic fireballs? Sure, they're sour, but it's still candy!"

And when Bon Bon gave you the chance to help make candy, those were the first things that came to mind. You fucking _love_ that shit!

"No, nothing like that. Just business, is all."

"Well, if you say so. I guess we'll hang out some other time, right?"

"Sure, Anon," she says, taking her bags before walking off.

Turning to Lyra, you see her give you a large smile. She still looks tired from all her work, but her perky nature still shines through.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah, sure."

She gives you a nod before turning towards the road and walking off. You follow Lyra down the road to wherever she has you going.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~ Lyra's POV ~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

You're so excited right now; everything's going so well for you!

So far, you have the house built, Anon's room is done, and you even got it done sooner than expected! They said they'd have it _all_ done in two months. Screw that! With your help, they got it done in one! It _may_ have been you bugging them the whole time, but so what?

Maybe telling Anon and Bon Bon one month was a bit extreme, but you wanted to get it done as soon as possible. So what if you're tired? You got the place built ahead of schedule! It's going to be SO exciting to show Anon the new place! He's going to be so surprised to see his new room too! You've been holding a grin for most of the day with that thought bubbling around your head.

You even got him a little present that's lying down on his bed right now with a little bow on it and everything. You're just waiting for the construction ponies to finish up moving their tools and vehicles on the yard and for them to put grass back on the ground.

Yep, then you can show him the place and finally be able to spend more time with him like you used to! But for now, you'll be spending some time with him since you haven't gotten to all month long. Admittedly, you're jealous of Bon Bon being able to spend most of it with him during his lunch breaks and after work, along with some other things you've seen. Taking him out to the park, making candy with him, and so many things you wish you were doing. That's the only thing you regret about taking the extra work to get the house done faster.

Well, at least you have him here to spend time with! Only one problem…

You have _no_ idea what to do right now. You told Bon Bon you wanted to spend time with him and tell him about the house, but you don't really have anything to do…

The two of you are still walking down the street, enjoying the briskness in the air. Rarity got you green jacket, which is totally awesome. At least the walk gives you time to think of what to do. Maybe you can go on a picnic with him like he's been doing with Bonnie? No, it's too cold for that. There goes ice cream, too. Meeting your friends defeats the purpose of spending some time with Anon for you. You wish it wasn't so cold right now. You can't do anything like hot air balloons or other fun things.

You're so stupid! Why'd you decide to go on this walk?! You'd turn back now, but you don't want to look stupid to Anon...

Maybe you can walk through the park? Can you find something to do there? Yeah, it's better than walking down this road… that just passed the park.

You hurriedly walk in front of Anon, walking all around him, and back down the road. Anon walks up to you, where you look up and see confusion on his face.

"And what was that?"

"We missed the park, so I went around."

"Why in front of me though? I almost tripped on you."

…Yeah, you aren't really thinking. And you tell him just that. He shrugs it off, following you to the park.

"So why we going to the park?" he asks, hugging his coat tighter as a breeze passes through.

"I just thought it would be a nice place to take a walk and talk."

You're not going to tell him you couldn't think of anything else. The two of you get to the park entrance, not seeing many ponies at the moment. You _do_ see a vendor selling some hot food, though! Perfect! You walk straight there, looking at the pictures he has for food. Anon walks up to you, looking as well with a strange look on his face.

"That doesn't look like Equestrian beside the pictures," he says, tilting his head. "What exactly is that?"

"Ah, sorry 'bout that," the vendor says. "It's an older dialect of Equestrian that my family's been using for generations. It's a tradition for us to use it."

"I wasn't aware there are other dialects." He looks down, looking at the food. "Or this type of food… "

"It's perfectly fine, I assure you."

"But… isn't it…" he trails off, looking at the pictures once more.

"I'll take a dog, EXTRA mustard!" you tell the vendor.

"Coming right up," he says back, setting up your dog.

"…I suppose I'll get the same. I'll also be paying for hers."

"You don't have to do that."

"It's fine, really. Other than what I give you guys, I have plenty of bits to spare."

Well that sure is nice of him. It almost feels like he's paying for you, like on a date!

…The thought of that immediately slaps a red blush on your face. Luckily, Anon's turned away so he doesn't see it. You keep your face away from his, trying to calm down.

After giving you the hotdog and paying, the two of you walk into the park. The food keeps you nice and warm with the cold air. It's also getting a bit dark. Lamp posts are lit up on your path out here, allowing you to see better. After eating your dog, you look up at Anon, staring at his own.

"You should eat that before it gets cold."

"Huh? Oh, right. It's just… you have hotdogs here."

"Weeeeell, they're actually tofu dogs."

"No, that's no-really?" He shakes his head. "No, I meant that hotdogs are specifically made because of leftover trimmings of… well, meat. I'm just trying to figure out why you have them."

"It's originally from the griffins how it's made, but it's not really important is it?"

"…No, I suppose it's not," he says, finally eating his dog.

You notice that the sky's starting to turn darker with little twinkling stars shining right now. It's only you and Anon right now, and you can't be any happier. You like how the night sets sooner in the Fall and Winter. It just makes this time with Anon feel better since no one's out right now.

Walking through the park is pretty, even though it's cold. Maybe when you find a bench to sit down on, you can get Anon to hold you for warmth? You really like that thought a lot. And another reason to like the night so much, it's hiding your red face from Anon.

The two of you continue walking into the park as it gets darker. It might be a bit late to show Anon the house now, but you'd rather spend time with him instead. Ah, you're now in front of the pond. Flowers are scattered all around it as the water reflects the night sky. It's a very pretty sight to look at. Now, you just need a bench…

"Lyra, why are we all the way out here?"

"Is there something wrong, Anon?"

"No, not really. Mostly curious as to why we're out here in the dark. It's getting pretty cold."

Crud, you can't find a bench. You turn to Anon who's holding his coat close to him.

"Um… sorry. I thought this would be fun, but it is getting a bit dark…"

"Maybe we can head back and do something at Vinyl's place? I can finally show you that chess game I just got done making. You might like that."

You give him a nod. It's too cold to do anything right now. You're even feeling it. It sort of sucks; you wanted to do something with him, especially since it's just the two of you. Maybe… Would it be alright to… talk to him about _that_? You're not sure; it might be a bit early to do so. Still, it's just the two of you right now. It's a really good chance to ask now.

And if he says no… well, you can always do your best to convince him.

"Hey Anon," you say as he's turning from the pond.

"Yeah?"

"…What do you think of me?"

Looking at Anon, you see him blinking at you.

"I think you're… a swell mare?"

"No, silly," you giggle, walking up to him. "I meeean… do you like me?"

"Well, sure. Why wouldn't I?"

You smile at that, but you don't think he's getting the point. Either that or he's intentionally not saying it. _Maybe he's shy about this?_

"So what do you like about me?"

"What do I like about you?"

"Yes."

He stands there, staring down at you as you continue to smile up at him. "Well, I like… who you are. I mean, you can be fun, you're interesting, and you always have something for us to do."

"…Go on."

"You always put your best effort into anything, you're there for your friends, and… you have a big heart."

That big heart of yours is thumping around madly as you stare up at Anon.

"Do you mean all of that?"

"Well of course I do."

"What about my mane? Or, or my cutie mark? Do you like my special talent?"

He bends down at you, petting your mane down your neck. It makes you shiver, feeling the warmth from his hand.

"Yes, your hair is a great part of you, and I do like your special talent. It's fun to hear you play the lyre." Your smile grows, hearing that. "But what's up with you asking me all this?"

This feels like a really good time to finally ask him about your future with him. Even the setting's perfect, with the sky out and being by the pond in the dark.

"Anon…"

Without warning, a sudden flash of light rockets into the sky. Fireworks! This is really too perfect for you. Though… it's a strange color for fireworks…

Wait… why are Anon's eyes widening like that? And why does he look like he's in pain?

Time slows down for you as you stare at Anon, your smile disappearing to one of open shock. The look on his face looks like he's trying to say something as he jolts forward at you. That's… that's not fireworks, that's a spell hitting Anon!

Time comes back as he slumps to the ground, crackling with yellow lightning as he's paralyzed on the ground. Looking behind him, you see three ponies coming out of the shadows, heading directly to the two of you. You can feel yourself burning inside from what just happened. How DARE they hurt Anon and screw up this night!

Charging up a spell, you throw a massive green beam at them. It hits one of them, sending the attacker flying back and into a tree, knocking the pony out. The other two don't even look back to him as they continue running at you. One of them, the unicorn that most likely hit Anon, already has a spell charged up for you. It slams into you, zapping you with the very same charge that hit Anon. You fly back as the lightning crackles around your body. It's not painful, but it immobilizes you completely.

"Pick up the alien, now!"

"What about-"

"We don't have time to get him; he should've dodged the darn thing! Now hurry, before anypony comes! They'll be here soon after seeing all the blasts!"

You can't do anything but lie there as you watch the pony beside the unicorn, a large and massive earth pony, lift Anon up and onto his back. The two quickly run off with Anon, leaving you to stare at them, tears running down your eyes.

Your vision starts to fade as you see some ponies finally coming to you, trying to keep you to stay awake. No use. You finally close your eyes, seeing nothing but darkness.

~End Chapter Fourteen~


	16. Chapter Fifteen - A Journey Awaits

"…Hmm…"

Where are you? Why's it so hard to move? Why can't you open your eyes?

"…Ugh…"

_Don't panic, Lyra. Just take a second and try to remember what you were doing. That might jog your memory._

You remember… finishing your day with the construction workers, finally getting the house complete. Then there's talking with Bon Bon, walking to the park wi-

You suck in a hard breath, finally remembering what happened. _Anon!_

"He-dwer-whuu…"

_Come on, open your darn eyes_, you think, trying your best to see or move, just anything. _Move, stupid body, MOVE!_

…It's no use. That spell still has you paralyzed. You _do_ feel something soft underneath you, and it's not grass. You can also hear voices. It's hard to make them out though. You're not really paying attention to them though. You're more worried about Anon.

_Did anyone make it to him in time? Is he safe?_ Thoughts keep bubbling over your head, remembering what happened. _…Why'd they have to do it then, when I was… going to ask…_

Whoever has you seems to be working on countering the spell that hit you. A tingling sensation starts to prickle over your numb body. You're still tired from everything that's happened, barely able to stay awake. It's useless as your mind drifts off to sleep.

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"…Uwhuwa…"

You wake up once more. This time around, you're fully aware of what's happened. You don't try and move around or panic; it won't help with the situation right now. Opening your eyes, you look around and see you're inside of the hospital. You've been here enough times to recognize the place.

Right now, you're covered with a blanket, lying on top of a bed in your own private room. You feel stiff from the spell, but at least you can move now. Looking around, you see Bon Bon on the side, sitting in a chair, asleep. _Thank goodness she's here; she can answer some questions._

"Bon Bon," you raspingly call out.

She moves at your calling, but returns to her sleep. You call to her a few more times until she's finally woken up, looking around. When she sees you're awake, she immediately jumps from her seat over to you.

"Lyra! You had me so worried!"

"Bon Bon… what happened?"

"Hold up, let me get you some water."

She rushes over to a sink, grabbing one of those paper cups before filling it. She returns, giving you the cup. You greedily drink down the water inside of it, feeling much better.

"Thanks," you say, giving her back the cup. "Now, can you please tell me what happened?"

Bonnie flattens her ears, looking down at the floor.

"It seems you and Anon got attacked for some reason. We're not too sure why exactly they did it yet, or why they took Anon. We'll soon find out, though. One of them is in custody, waiting to be interrogated."

"…So they got away with Anon?"

"Yes, Lyra," she says quietly.

Hearing that from Bon Bon hurt more than you'd ever think it could. Anon's gone…

"W-why would they take him?" you chokingly ask to no one in particular.

You roll onto your side, holding your chest as you quietly started to cry. You can feel Bon Bon wrap her hooves around you in a hug as you cried.

"Th-this is so stupid!" you cry out. "Why did this have to happen?!"

You're not sure how long you've been lying there, crying with Bon Bon holding you. She eventually joins you as well. You only notice since you could hear her sniffling as she shook slightly against you.

You can hear someone knocking at the door. Bon Bon gets up, wiping her face as you do the same before looking at the door.

"Um, hi," you hear as the door creaks open. You see Twilight at the door. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"No, it's fine."

"Are you two okay?"

You nod your head as Bon Bon says yes to her. Twilight enters the door, stopping only a few meters from you two.

"I just came to tell you that Princess Celestia herself is here with some guards to interrogate the pony we have in custody. It shouldn't take long before we know where they have Anon."

Finally, some good news.

"After they get the info, Princess Celestia is going to give me the info to look over it. She's entrusted the rescue mission with me and the rest of the elements."

"Why are you telling us this?" Bon Bon asks. "And why aren't the guards going instead?"

Twilight rolls her eyes at Bonnie. "Because I already know that the two of you are going to want answers to some things, so I thought I may as well tell you here instead of later on. As for the guards, there's a lot of activity going on in every city in Equestria. It seems that once it was found out that Anon was taken by the rebel group, they started acting up all over Equestria. We think that it's to distract most of the guards away from Anon. We should be leaving sometime either tomorrow or the next day when we're all ready to go, but only after we have more info from the pony they're interrogating."

"Wait, this is from a rebel group? What are they rebelling against in the first place?!"

"Look, I don't know much yet and won't until later on."

"Do you at _least_ know why they took him?!"

"Sorry, I don't. It should arrive in the report I'll be getting later on today."

You sigh to yourself, thumping your head back into your pillow in a 'fwump'. A pony in armor comes up to Twilight, whispering in her ear before leaving.

"I have to go now. I don't know when they'll get the info and I'm supposed to go over what's important and talk to the princess about the trip."

You continue staring into the ceiling, thinking to yourself as Twilight leaves.

"Well, at least we know that somepony's going after Anon," Bon Bon says, moving to your side once more.

"True. Of course, none of that matters since I'll be the first one to get to him."

"What?" Bon Bon asks, whipping her head around to stare at you.

"Twilight said the pony in custody is being interrogated. So, when that's done I can get the information from her and start heading out."

Bon Bon groans, rubbing her forehead before looking at you once more. "And how exactly are you going to get that info?"

"I'm a very convincing mare when I have to be, Bon Bon. I'm certain we can talk things through…"

"What about things that you'd need? Did you think of that? And what if you get hurt or something? Also, this isn't just _one_ pony you're going against, it's an entire group! How are you going to get through them?"

"…I'll think of something when I get to that."

You didn't sound very convincing there. Buck, you're not convinced yourself that you can do it. But you're not going to leave Anon out there without at least attempting to help!

Bon Bon lets out a long winded sigh, closing her eyes momentarily.

"Lyra, going out there is dangerous, stupid, and so many other things I can't even _begin_ to tell you."

Looks like you'll have to sneak away from Bon Bon later on when you get the chance. You'll just have to put up with her bugging you right now, then get out of the hospital. You've more or less drowned her out right now as she tallies up the different things that would make this exceedingly difficult for you. It's… a lot.

"…And from the looks of things, it'll be like every other time. So if you're going, I'm going with you."

"No Bon Bon, I'm still go- what?"

You stare at her, uncertain of what to say. Did she just give you the go-ahead on something?!

"…You just spouted so many things that's wrong with me going. And… you're not going to argue with me on this?"

"You don't expect me to believe you'll actually listen to what I'd have to say, do you? I only listed all that out so you'd understand that it'll take more than one pony to help bring back Anon. And besides, Anon's… also a very close friend, so instead of arguing about things, we need to think of what needs to be done, and the sooner, the better."

You give her a small smile, nodding your head at her. _Guess there's a first time for everything_, you think.

"Right! So, what do you think's first?"

"…You didn't listen to a word I just said, did you?"

You blush in embarrassment, looking off to the side. Bon Bon groans out in exasperation.

"First, we need provisions to go on this thing: food, medical supplies, gear to use for the trip, and so many other things. I'll be getting that stuff while you get the info and a map."

Yeah, that's for the best. You'd probably forget something really important.

"We're also going to need some other ponies to come along with us," Bon Bon continues, clicking her tongue before looking at you. "You have any ideas on who to bring?"

"Vinyl and Octavia should be able to help. They've been with us before on so many things in the past, so they'll most likely agree. And they've done a lot of traveling all over the place, so they'd be used to this."

"True, but we'll probably be needing more than them."

"Um… I could try and ask Carrot Top?"

Bon Bon shakes her head. "No, she doesn't like to travel and has a job she needs to stay at." Bonnie looks at you, tilting her head. "How exactly are you going to get out of work?"

"Easy, I have a mess load of sick days and holiday leave I'm able to take since I rarely take them, so I'll just put some time off!"

"…Right. Anyways, do you know anypony else?"

"I don't know many other ponies that well that would agree to coming along. Do you?"

She shakes her head at you. "Sadly, no I don't. But I think we'll need some pegasi with us, pegasi that know Anon very well."

You immediately realize who she's implying here. "Ugh… Flitter and Cloudchaser. Why them?"

"We need a balanced group, and pegasi would be really helpful. So unless you know of any other pegasi…"

"I don't know of any other pegasi that closely other than Derpy, and I'd rather not have a random variable on our trip if possible. But would they even agree to come along with us?"

"I don't know. If we can't get them, I'll talk to some ponies about coming."

"Right. So now I just need to check out of the hospital. Do you know when I can leave, or do I have to sneak out?"

"You do NOT need to sneak out this time since I've already checked when you can leave. In fact, you can do it now since the spell's gone and you're not hurt. They only brought you in to make sure to watch you after removing the spell. I'll alert the nurse outside before I leave."

"Okay then. You should get started on getting the things we'll need. Once I get out, I'll talk to the ponies about coming, and then get the info from Twilight. Hopefully she'll have it by then."

"We'll all meet back at our house as a base of operations to discuss on what needs to be done."

Bon Bon walks up to the bed, giving you a small hug before walking to the door. It's strange she didn't even try to argue about you going, and instead deciding to come with you from the get-go.

Still, this makes things much simpler to deal with now. You're going to bring Anon back home if it's the last thing you do!

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After checking out of the hospital, you head straight towards Vinyl and Octavia's place. They should hopefully be there so you don't have to run around looking for them. The walk there is somewhat difficult with how stiff you feel. You've had more than one look directed at your walking that you ignored. That's what you think anyways.

Arriving at their home, you slap the door with a bom-bom-bom sound. That means you're hitting it especially hard. The door opens soon after, showing Vinyl looking at you.

"Lyra! Shouldn't you be at the hospital?!"

You enter the house without her inviting you, Vinyl following you after she closes the door.

"Is Octavia here?"

"Yeah, she's in the back." She walks up to you, poking you in the nose. "Dude, you should be resting after what went down. I'm sure that the guards have already been sent to go get Anon back."

"The guards aren't going. Twilight and the other elements are, and hopefully, so will you."

"…Wha?" she mutters out, standing there and staring at you.

"I'm going out there with Bon Bon to get Anon back and I'm hoping you'll come along with us. Any help we get is really appreciated.."

She rubs the bottom of her chin, looking off to the side.

"I dunno, dude. I mean, what exactly would I be able to do anyways?"

"Vinyl, you're a unicorn. I've seen you throw the crowds around with beats and music. Do you remember the time the crowd went ballistic and went after you?"

"Yeah, not one of my finest moments," she grunts out. "It's not my fault that my gear shorted out and I had to leave early!"

"Even after that, you _know_ you can handle yourself on your own and having you as backup would be really great."

Vinyl stands there, looking to the side, staring at a wall in thought. "…Well, buck," she says, turning to you with a grin. "It'd be like ol' times back at the academy!"

_Just with more at stake_, you think, giving her a small smile in return.

"Let me just get my travel gear ready; going to have to set it up for colder weather. I've always enjoyed your little adventures, and this one seems to be your biggest one yet!"

"What about Octavia?"

"Don't worry about her. She'll be coming, even if I have to _convince_ her to."

Having Octavia would be really good. You don't know any other mare that's traveled more than her or can keep level-headed in the thick of things.

You talk with Vinyl for a few more minutes before leaving, telling her about the situation and if she knew where two certain pegasi are. Of course, she doesn't know where they are. They live closer to Cloudsdale but have a tendency of visiting Ponyville for some reason. Why would she know them?

It's going to be an absolute pain if they're not even here. Where should you start looking for them? The stands seem the best place to start. It's better than standing here in thought on where to search first.

…Of course, things have to be hard for you. Searching around the place and asking around gives you nothing on where they are. You search the shops, the stands, even the darn park! You're getting frustrated trying to find them. _Just think, where are they usually? Where can they be found?!_

…Wait. Flitter usually goes to the spa… She's nearly obsessed with going there now! Why didn't you check there first? Passing all the shops once more, you head straight to the day spa. Only problem is, the shop's closed with a sign on the door. Good news, Flitter's standing there in front of it.

"Um… hey, Flitter," you say, walking up to her. She turns from her staring at the door to you, blinking a few times. "Why are you staring at the door?"

"…The shop's closed. They said it's because Anon's g-gone," she says, choking on the last word. She wipes her eyes, going back to the door for more staring. "S-so, I just wanted to wait here until Anon comes back."

…Why do you have the feeling that inviting her is going to bring trouble?

"Flitter. I was actually going to offer you and your sister to come with me and some other ponies to go get Anon back."

She whips her head at you, eyes wide. "_You're going after them?!_"

"Yes. I'm not going to just stay back here and do nothing!"

Flitter looks at the ground, scratching the earth with her hoof. "I dunno, that sounds really dangerous and might be…" she trails off until you can't hear her.

"Flitter, Anon's your friend, right?" you ask.

"…Yes."

"Aren't you upset that he got kidnapped? Don't you want to help if you can?"

"Of _course_ I do! I'm just not actually used to going out on my own, is all. It's my sister that does the exciting stuff. Going to the academy, exploring in the Everfree, things that I'd _like_ to do, but get cold hooves when I get the chance."

"Well, now's your chance to help us getting Anon back. I'd like your sister to come too, so she'll be there to help you out."

She scuffs her hoof on the ground some more, staring down at the dirt in thought as you wait for an answer.

"I… I think I can _try_ to help, if my sister's definitely going. I'm not really sure what I'll be able to do, but I can try."

"You should probably ask her right now, wherever she is. You need to hurry, though, or we'll have to try and look for someo… somepony else." Not that you have any other pony in mind right now. "Get your gear and meet back at my place when the two of you are done."

She gives you a nod, lifting herself off the ground before taking flight. Great, that leaves you with one last thing to do: talk to Twilight. Trying to find Flitter and Cloudchaser took a lot of the day from you. Hopefully, that time meant that Twilight got the information already.

Arriving at the library, you open the door and walk inside. It's still day time, meaning you can just walk in; it _is_ a library, after all. Closing the door, you look around and don't see Twilight near the door.

"Twilight!" you call out, hoping she's here.

You hear some steps coming from down the stairs soon after. "Sorry, the library's not open to-"

Twilight stops mid-sentence, looking at you. She then sighs out, continuing down the stairs.

"I should've expected you to come here eventually," she says, walking over to a table by the couch. "I'm assuming you're here to learn of why they took Anon?"

"Yes," you say, walking up to her. "Among other things."

Twilight motions you to sit on the couch as she levitates a chair over to sit on before grabbing a thick folder.

"This is the info that Celestia and the guards got from the pony in custody. It's not everything since they're still interrogating him, but it's still a good start."

She ruffles through the pages, turning them to a specific part in the folder.

"The pony in custody stated that they took Anon for different reasons, and one of them being that they wanted to use him as a bargaining tool against the princesses."

"…I don't get it," you reply, trying to rack your brain around that. "What would they even need Anon for to bargain with?"

"Not sure, though we think it's because of his importance of what he is."

"...Go on."

"Lyra," Twilight sighs out, looking at you, "he's more or less an alien ambassador representing his species. The first of his kind, possibly even the last. By taking him, they can put pressure on the princesses to try and get what they want. It doesn't look good having him taken in the first place."

"And what exactly _do _they want?"

"It's hard to tell. From the looks of things, they want one of the princesses to step down from ruling and to allow the other full rulership."

"_One_ of them? What, they didn't want to choose?"

"Nothing like that, we just don't have all the facts. There's two rebel groups vying to get one of the princesses full power, and we don't know yet which one he's from or which base they're at."

"Wait, _which _base? So you know where Anon's at?!"

"…_Sort_ of. We know the general location of areas they hold their groups because of other ponies in custody and the information the princess got from them. We think we know where the ponies that took Anon came from, but they're not entirely sure, so they'll be doing more interrogations to get better info."

From the looks of things, you should be able to get to Anon, though it might take a little time. And that document there should tell you where to go.

"So you'll be leaving tomorrow then?"

"That's what we're hoping for, though it might be the day after. It all depends on how much more we can get from the pony and what additional preparations that we'll need to make."

"Alright then. Do you mind if I take a look at that document there?"

Twilight furrows her brow, looking at you. "Why do you want to look at the document? It doesn't tell much else about why they took Anon."

"I sort of… want to read about the rebels?"

Twilight looks at you for a few moments before jumping from her seat to get up.

"Sorry, Lyra. That's not a good enough reason to look at the papers, so if that's all then you should probably go back home and rest."

Whoa there! You're not leaving without those papers! Twilight starts towards the stairs, taking the folder with her.

"Wait!" you yell out, stopping her. "I… I have a reason to look at it."

She turns to you, raising an eyebrow at you. "And that is?"

"I'm… I was planning on going out to… save Anon as well."

Twilight groans at that. "Why does that not surprise me?"

"You wanted a reason and I gave you one! So can I look at the binder now?"

"No," she says without hesitation. "Sorry, but that's not a good enough reason for me."

"And just what IS a good enough reason for you, Twilight? What else do you want me to say?"

You walk up to her, trying your best to keep calm right now.

"Anon's my friend, somepony that I want to help out of this situation. I believe that I can get out there and bring him home to us."

"What? You don't trust me or the girls to do this? And do you _really_ think you can do this alone?"

You shake your head at her. "I'm not doing this alone; I've already got my own group getting ready. And I'm not saying you can't do a good job, I just feel that we can make a huge difference as well. I do hope to find him ourselves, but if you find him then I'm not going to complain one bit. I just want to see him home."

"…Lyra, I still can't let you take the document." Okay, now you're getting angry. "Who knows what you may screw up?"

"I can't see myself or the others not taking this utterly seriously for the trip!" you grunt out at her.

"Once more, I don't want any chances of something messing up. What would the princess think if she found out I gave this to you? I shouldn't even be discussing this in the first place! You're lucky I even told you what I did, Lyra. I don't want the princess having to talk to me about allowing such a screw up to happen!"

"…Why should you care what the princess thinks?"

For some reason, that stops Twilight in her tracks. You're not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but you'll roll with it.

"You should be more worried about Anon and how to get him back, not about how the princess will view this! You're supposed to be learning those friendship lesson things, aren't you? Then you should know how important a close friendship is. I want to help, and if I'm not getting that info then I sure as Tartarus will follow you!"

Twilight continues standing there with her back to you in silence. You're not sure if what you said only made her angry. Okay, maybe you should back up a bit?

"I'm not saying _you_ can't do a good job either, but I feel having more ponies out there can certainly help. My group will be ready to leave in a few hours, yours could take a day or two. Having a head start will certainly be good, won't it?"

Twilight doesn't answer as you watch her tilt her head down. She stands there for nearly a minute in thought, as you impatiently wait for her to say something.

"…I understand what you're saying, I do. But, I'm not supposed to give this info to anypony."

You let out some air, trying not to yell at Twilight right now. _Darn this stupid, stupid mare!_ If you knew you could get away with it, you'd probably just take it right now and run off.

"Now if you don't mind, I need you to leave. I've got to go talk to the princess about our trip."

You let out a grunt as you leave the house. Standing outside, you pace back and forth, trying to figure out what to do next. _Okay then_, you think to yourself. _I'll just have to get creative. And by creative, I mean breaking in when she leaves._

You walk around the house, finding a bush that you hide in. It wasn't long before you see Twilight leaving her home and head off. As soon as she's out of sight, you quickly head for the door… only to find it locked. _Should've expected that_, you think. _Now how do I get in?_

…You now find yourself back behind the tree, climbing the branches. It takes you a few tries getting up the tree with its higher branches. You're lucky you're good at climbing trees. Reaching the top, you push the window open before climbing inside.

You then dive to the side, seeing something coming at you. You should've known Twilight set something up for this! Why didn't you just try getting the info someway else?!

…Oh, that stupid bird! It's Owlowiscious, blinking off to the side staring at you. Standing back up, you stare back at the bird.

"You wouldn't happen to know where the papers are?"

The bird tilts its head.

"Who?"

"Not who, the papers. Do you know where she put them?"

The bird tilts its head the other way.

"Who?"

"Once ag- wait, I'm not getting into this trap again," you say, turning around to start looking into Twilight's drawers.

You're not even sure why you asked the darn thing, darn bird never tells you anything.

"You just stay here you stupid bird."

"Jerk."

You turn back around.

"What?"

"Who?"

…You must be imagining things. You shake your head, ignoring the bird for the moment. You're not sure how much time you have. You need to find those stupid documents and copy them down! You can figure out what the documents have once you get back to your house.

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"Darn it, Vinyl!" Octavia screams as she throws another bow at Vinyl. "Why do you keep agreeing to do things without ever ASKING ME?!"

"Because we're helping a friend," Vinyl replies, opening her closet to her gear. "Now, should I bring my portable stage travel equipment, or my experimental speakers?"

"Don't you think that I may have wanted to have a say in this at ALL?! We don't even know where we're going yet, and you jumped on the bucking chance from the get-go!"

"…I think I'll bring them both," Vinyl says, grabbing her various equipment pieces with magic onto her bed.

Octavia slumps on the ground, her butt sticking in the air as she rubs her head into the floor.

"Why me? Why did I have to befriend somepony like _you_?"

"'Cause I'm too cool NOT to have as a friend!" Vinyl proclaims as she neatly packs her gear into her pack. "I better bring extra goggles, just in case."

Vinyl continues going around the room, rummaging through her gear as Octavia groans into the ground to herself.

"Come on," Vinyl says, dragging Octavia's tail with magic outside the room. "You have to go pack too. Make sure to bring as many bows as possible. Oh, and instead of your usual cello… bring the new one."

"That stupid thing isn't even ready! I don't know how to play it properly yet!"

"You can learn on the go! Besides, that thing should give you a booster with your aim AND it's foldable! I know you've always wanted something that you could travel with!"

Octavia groans to herself as she picks herself up, walking to her bedroom. "This trip is going to be so bothersome, I already know it."

"Possibly!" Vinyl hollers from her room. "But it's for a good friend that's in need of help!"

"…Sure, right," Octavia says to herself, sighing as she begins packing her usual travel gear.

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"Flitter, do you know where my travel coat is?"

"For the last time, sister! It's _my_ coat, and you can _borrow_ it!" Flitter throws a jacket at Cloudchaser's face before going back to her closet. "You better not rip it up like the others."

"Heh, thanks." She puts the coat on before flapping up into the air in a loop. "Oh! I can't _wait_ to go on this trip! I wonder where we'll be going off to! I've never traveled past the Everfree Forest," she says, glaring at Flitter, "because of a certain somepony…"

"Hopefully it isn't someplace too dangerous," Flitter says, rolling up some bandages before placing them into a tin box. "We're definitely going to need a lot of these. Oh, and some healing cream, and some rubbing cleanser…"

"Yeah, you do that. I'll just pack up the better gear we'll need."

"Every group needs a good pack set up for injuries!"

"And every group should also have a good pegasus!" Flitter glares at Cloudchaser, making her chuckle. "I mean pegasi."

"We should probably hurry. Lyra said to meet her soon at her house to discuss about what's happening and I don't want to be late."

"I just have to make sure my bottled clouds and liquefied sun is packed up, along with some other things."

"Heh, don't you mean Cel-"

"DON'T… even say that name."

"Not MY fault your little invention there came out at the worst time and got that little name."

"Uuuuuuuuugh…"

"Just hurry up! I want us out the door soon, and all you're doing is flying in the air talking about what we _might_ meet instead of packing!"

"Yeah, yeah…"

"And don't forget to pack for cold weather!"

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"And how much is that, Rarity?"

"…This one's on me, Bon Bon," Rarity says before walking over to Bon Bon, levitating over a box to her. "I'm sorry about what happened with Anon at the park. I'll make sure to do my best when the girls and I go out to get him back."

Bon Bon gives her a small smile, taking the box and placing it inside her large bags. "I'm just lucky you could make these so quick."

"Since you came in so early, it gave me time to fix them up."

"I guess it also helped that your shop was closed, right?"

"Bon Bon, everypony's shops are closed today. Anon, being taken like he was, it shook a lot of the ponies here."

_Which made things harder for me to purchase things_, Bon Bon thought to herself.

Walking outside, Bon Bon takes her list out from her sack, scratching off another item on her list. _Anon's definitely going to need clothes when we find him._ During this past month, Anon and Bon Bon grew really close to one another. When Bon Bon first found that Lyra liked him, she couldn't understand why.

She thought it was because of how alien he was. It didn't take long for her to find out the truth. He's kind, considerate, always there for you when you need somepony around…

The thoughts of Bon Bon's time with Anon made her smile, thinking about them. She's hopeful to convince Anon to be with her and Lyra soon before she misses her chance. _I'm definitely going to ask him soon after we find him_, she thinks while looking at the ground.

"…Right, I should get back to getting the supplies," Bon Bon says, walking off to the stands once more. "I'm going to need some extra rope for the trip."

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You're currently walking back to your house with a fat stack of papers levitating beside you. It took a good while writing all the papers down. Stupid Twilight, she hid them fairly well. And by that, you mean in a place you should've thought to look, like her bookshelves.

You wonder why she stuck it in the book, _The Great Trix of the Powerful Trade_. That thing looked beat up and was hidden even behind all the other books, making it more difficult to find. You would've found it sooner had the darn bird stopped bugging you the entire time. Though it's strange not seeing Spike there, you know Twilight left the house by herself.

No matter, you now have all the info and you just need to check for where Anon's at! At least you don't need to find a book on maps. The one thing you feel you have over Twilight is that you know more about this world than probably any other pony right now. All of Celestia's work is definitely coming in handy right now. You should be able to traverse wherever Anon is without too much difficulty.

Arriving back at your house, you enter the door and stop in your tracks. It takes you a few moments to remember the place was rebuilt which is why it's so much bigger now. You look up passing a beam near the roof that was raised: that's where Anon kept ramming his head when he first arrived here. The living room is also more spacious. Looking over to the side, you see the door open where Anon's room is located.

"…"

You place the papers on the table by the couch, walking over to Anon's door to close it. Just as you do, you see the gift you were going to give him on the bed with the little red bow on it. It's a framed picture of you, Bon Bon, and Anon out at the park. You smile to yourself, remembering that day. You were really hoping to show him this place today.

…You shake your head, trying not to get too sidetracked right now. Closing the door, you walk over to the couch and start working on what you got from Twilight. Most of it is junk to you, talking about the pony in custody personally and what he did. You skip to the part, written about where Anon might be. The pony in custody hasn't given out too much info yet, so it looks like you'll be working on previous work from the other ponies they've already interrogated in the past.

"…Ah, buck."

You've taken out a map to mark the areas where the rebels are located. You do not like what you're seeing. There are two areas that are lit up, colored black and white to represent areas of known positions these rebels are. The only problem is where they're located. Bon Bon is _not_ going to be happy with what's here.

…It's been almost two hours now, nearing the time for the last train out. Bon Bon already got six tickets after you told her about where the first stop will be. Flitter and Cloudchaser just got here only a few minutes ago. Thankfully, you didn't have to hunt them down.

"What took you two so long?" Bon Bon asks, giving them a plate of food.

"Thanks, we haven't eaten yet," Flitter says, taking the plate. "Cloudchaser here accidentally destroyed her bag after one of her bottled clouds got loose."

Everypony looks at her as she quickly swallows her sandwich, a nervous chuckle coming out.

"I suppose I should've packed it more safely."

"You're lucky nothing else was destroyed," Flitter remarks, eating her sandwich.

"Now that we're all here, mind filling us all in on what's happening?" Octavia says, sitting at the couch by Vinyl.

"Right. The plan is to take Anon back from the rebels. I got the papers from Twilight's place, which tells us where they're most likely holding him. There are two major problems with this though. The first is we don't know _which_ group took him, and the second is the location."

You pull out your map, opening it up and laying it flat on the table. Everypony crowds around the table, looking at it for themselves.

"Whoa there, dude," Vinyl speaks out. "The rebels are over in _The Forest of Dourness_?!"

Flitter and Cloudchaser look up at her after hearing that. "The Forest of Dourness?" Flitter says. "I've never heard of that place."

"Dude, I remember hearing stories about that place when Octavia and I were travelling around. Place is _bad_ juju with so many strange things happening!" She whisks in between the two pegasi, pulling them close together. "I even hear that anypony that goes in has _never_ come back out!"

"That doesn't make sense," Bon Bon says. "How would anypony even know about that if nopony comes back to talk about it?"

"…Because they turn into _gho-o-o-osts_!"

Octavia takes her bundled up cello and whacks it upside Vinyls head, sending her into the ground.

"Vinyl, SO not the time for this!"

"Uuuugh," Vinyl groans out, lying on the floor. "I was just… trying to… help with the mood…"

"A-are there r-really g-g-ghosts?" Flitter asks shakely.

"No, there isn't," you lie. You have no idea what's all in there. "It's not a place that's been inhabited in a while." You point to a location further down Macintosh Hills, tapping the map. "Over here is a settlement that's currently attempting to get back in and reclaim the lands since they used to be a part of Equestria so long ago. That's our first location once we board the train."

"…Mercanville?" Cloudchaser says questioningly, tilting her head at the map. "Why's it called that?"

You can only shrug your shoulders. "It's the last stop to The Forest of Dourness, so a lot of beings set up shop there for any wandering travelers going into it for adventure, riches, or any other reason. There's also the research laboratory there that sends me most of my work from the forest."

"Work from the forest?" Cloudchaser asks. "I thought your work came from the princess."

"It does, but when there isn't much to analyze that she personally wants done, I'm usually sent stuff from there to help out."

"And that's why I don't like that forest one bit," Vinyl says, slumping back into the couch while rubbing her head. "Lyra here already told us too much about that horrible forest! Just…" Vinyl shivers to herself, staring at the map still on the table.

"Then that means we should have an easier time going into the forest with Lyra if she already knows so much about it," Cloudchaser says in between bites of her sandwich.

"True, but you should still be on your guard in it. Most if it's still unexplored after so long, who knows what's actually there."

"Which makes me question why the rebels would even want to be there in the first place," Octavia mumbles out.

Rolling up the map, you place it back into your pack before taking a seat in your chair.

"With that out of the way, we now have to decide on where to go. From the looks of things, the rebels definitely went through that town since it's the only way of getting into the forest safely without having to travel the badlands."

"And no sane pony would EVER travel through those lands," Bon Bon pipes up.

"We can find more info when we get there, but from the looks of things I'm thinking the day rebels took them."

"Is that what they're calling themselves?" Flitter asks.

"No, they don't officially have a name, so they're being identified by what they're rebelling for."

"I still don't get why they took Anon in the first place," Cloudchaser says, floating in the air.

Before you could answer a chime of bongs ring out. You look over and see your clock ringing out, alerting you to the time.

"This can be discussed further on the train. We have to get moving now before we miss our train." You get up from your chair, grabbing your pack. "Better grab your stuff and check to make sure we're all prepared. If we forget anything, we can get it at Mercanville."

"I've got a lot of rations for food in case any of you run out too quickly," Bonnie says, strapping her pack on.

Grabbing your pack, you strap it to yourself with only a little difficulty from your bulky clothing.

"…Bon Bon?"

"Yes?"

"…Why are you wearing your lab coat over your gear?"

"…It makes me feel good."

You let out a sigh, ignoring the absolutely idiotic idea of having her wearing that.

"You think there's a chance we can catch up to the ponies that took Anon?" Flitter asks, tightening her pack on her sides.

"Doubtful," you grunt out. "They have a full day's head start and they also don't need to stop for anything. We have to take what info we have and ask around about the ponies that took Anon so we can decide on where to go."

It's going to be difficult getting Anon back, but you're definitely not coming back home without him.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X ~ Elsewhere ~ X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"So when's the human going to arrive?"

"Anytime now. They've already made it past the checkpoint with the alien."

"Good. Once the human arrives here and is caged up, we can begin starting procedures on negotiations with the princess, along with our side goals."

"Sir, are you sure this was a good idea? We never even discussed this with our leader yet."

"This is a serious gamble, but I believe the outcome of what we'll get out of it is worth the risk of taking the alien. All we need is to put pressure on the princess, and th-"

A knocking can be heard, interrupting the two figures in the room.

"Come in."

The door opens up, shedding light inside the once darkened room.

"Sir, the alien's arrived and is currently being held inside the cell as was requested."

The two ponies from before look to one another before getting up from their seats, walking out the door. In no time, the three of them are standing in front of a large cell where they can see a large figure lying down on the ground, turned away from them.

"Where there any problems in acquiring him?"

"Sir, we lost the pegasus that went with the retrieval of the human."

The pony sighs, looking through the bars where the human is lying. "I have a feeling that's going to come back to bite us in the future. Tell me, where they followed?"

"No, they were not, sir."

"…Very well. Have them bring me a report on what exactly happened and why the left one of ours behind."

The pony salutes, leaving the room. Two guards walk inside, taking either side of the cage as the two ponies continue staring at the unconscious body of their captive.

"Sir, I really hope this doesn't come to hurting our goals in the end, especially since our leader doesn't know about this."

"…Same here."

~End Chapter Fifteen~


	17. Chapter Sixteen - Forced Into The Unkown

"Uugh…" you groan out, trying to wake up.

Your neck is stiff, your head feels like it's in a vice, and your back is killing you from sleeping on the ground.

…Wait, the ground? Clearing your vision, you see that you are in fact lying on the ground. _Vinyl didn't drug me again did she? _

As your vision clears all the way, you see it's made of what looks like cement, or something similar. It's quite spacious as well, big enough for you to properly stand straight up. But it's strange; you don't recall doing anything wrong. Why else would you be in what looks like a cell?

_Hold up_, you think, _Ponyville doesn't have a jail!_ And now you're worried. _If I'm not in Ponyville, where the hell am I?_

You look around, spotting three walls on either side of you with bars towards the entrance. There's a window that's also barred, but that's about it. There isn't even a proper cot for you to lie on. Sitting up, you lay your back against the far wall, facing out towards the bars. It's a bit hard trying to figure out just why you're here. Did you break some sort of law you're unaware exists?

The only thing you remember last, is talking to Lyra, then a shit load of orange and yellow lights sparkling around. That doesn't tell you much at all. You're also fairly hungry. _When's the last time I ate?_ you think as your stomach rumbles out. You wonder when someone's going to come around and tell you why you're here.

You hear something shuffle over by the bars, averting your attention over there. With how dim the light is, you can barely make out the shadows of what appears to be ponies outside your cell. _Thank god, I can ask them why I'm here, and maybe get some food as well. _

Standing up, you make your way to the bars, hoping to get some answers.

"Hey there," you call out, reaching the bars. "Mind telling me why I'm here?"

The two ponies immediately turn to you with wide eyes. They're both donned in what looks like metal armor colored like plain metal. _That's a first_, you think, looking at the two. Usually it's colored some weird color, like purple. Here… it's just plain metal, sort of dull looking too.

"Rocky, go report it's awake."

"I don't want to do that; you go do it, Roller."

"Look, could either of you tell me why I'm here? Also, any chance of getting some food?"

The two look at you, then back to one another.

"See! I told you to have its food prepared, but nooooooo!"

"Just shut up! I'll get it later, okay?! Now go report he's up!"

"You go do it! You're the one that should've fed the darn alien!"

"And you also forgot to give it the stupid blankets! See? It's obvious that it's cold!"

You groan out, listening to the two of them bicker back and forth for a good five minutes. You lean your head on the metal bars, watching them argue.

"Fine! We'll settle this like old times!"

Rocky glares at Roller. "Very well then…"

They stare at one another for a few more moments before quickly shoving their front legs at one another. You thought they were going to start a fight…

"Hah! Paper wins rock!"

"Two out of three!"

You're completely dumbfounded from their little game of what actually looked like hoof, hoof, hoof. How in the hell does that work?!

"Hah, I win!" Rocky announces. "Scissors beat paper! Now go report he's awake."

The pony called Roller grunts out before exiting the room, leaving you with the other guard. This can't be the royal guard; they're geared in either that gold or dark armor for day and night. They're also… dumber acting. Is there another set of guards you weren't told about?

"So… why exactly am I here?"

The guard continues staring at you, not answering your question. You repeat the question and get the same results. You stand there for a few more moments, hopeful he'll say something.

…Nope, just more of nothing. He stares straight ahead with a look like he's really constipated. You sigh to yourself, walking back to where you were previously and lean against the wall. _Okay_, s_eriously, why am I here? _you question yourself as you wait for someone to hopefully answer why you're here.

You're not sure how much time's passed when the other guard comes back with another pony, this one garbed in the same type of metal, but not as dull looking.

"Open the cell," the pony orders while staring at you.

The guard named Rocky grabs its key ring on its side, opening the door. The second guard walks inside with something very bulky with holes. They're obviously cuffs, but they seem too large. The guard notices this as well, staring at your arms, then the cuffs, before walking backwards out of the room. Whispering to the pony that looks to be in charge at the moment, he whispers back as the pony guard leaves the room. You stand there, blinking at the pony in charge as he stares back.

"So… can you tell me why I'm here?"

"Hold your questions until later, alien."

You blink back once more hearing that before scrunching up your brow. This is getting old really fast. _Can someone tell me why the fuck I'm here_?

The guard pony comes back inside the cell with some rope. Of course, they'd just use something else to bind your hands with. You stick your arms out crossed, already knowing what's next. Roller grunts to himself before wrapping your hands in the rope. You're getting to see firsthand a pony without magic doing something that should be impossible. You're quite amazed at what he can do with hooves as he quickly ties up your hands. Once he's done, he moves to the side of you.

"Come, alien," the pony in charge orders.

You sigh to yourself as you walk forward out of the cell with the guard following behind.

They lead you through a set of hallways, passing different empty cells along the way, until you're led outside. It's still day time out, so you can see where you finally are. You're not so sure, but it almost looks like the Everfree Forest. You don't like that one bit.

They proceed to move you past some buildings and other ponies on guard. You notice there aren't a whole lot of them. It almost appears empty to you, wherever you are. You're bumped from behind from unintentionally slowing down. Quickening your pace, you meet back up to the other two as you're lead into a building.

After walking past the entrance room and down another hall, you're finally brought to a room with a table and two chairs. You're directed to one of the chairs… that's too fucking small. Looking to the side, you look at the ponies, then back at the small chair.

"Go get him a hay bale to sit on," the pony in charge orders one of the guards.

It doesn't take long for the guard to return, replacing your seat for a bale of hay to sit on. And now you're sitting in a partially lit room, waiting for… something…

"So, can you _now_ tell me why I'm here?" you ask the pony.

"Hold your tongue for the time being, alien."

…You're really starting to dislike this guy.

After what feels like forever, you hear the door open behind you. There's some whispering going on before you hear the door open once more and some more shuffling, then the door shutting. The clopping of hooves sound out as they start in your direction and around you. Walking around the table, you see a light blue pony, once more in metal armor, but he also has a cape.

"So, are you the one in charge around here?" you ask just as he's sitting down.

"…Yes," he replies. "For the time being, that is, until our leader comes back."

_Second in charge then, good to know. _"Okay, so I'm hoping you can tell me why I'm here. I don't recall doing anything wrong that would warrant me in that cell."

"Oh, it's nothing that you've done. It's what you _are_."

_Are you SHITTING ME?!_ "I'm here because I'm not a _pony_?!" you scream out.

The pony sitting across from you continues to stare at you in a calm manner, unperturbed from your yelling.

"Don't jump to conclusions. And no, otherwise, we would've taken a minotaur, or any other species. You're here… because of your value."

Okay, so they took you because you're an alien?

…Wait a second…

"…Taken? What do you mean by that?"

"It should be fairly obvious, don't you think? We took you as a bargaining tool to be used against the princess. It's really that simple."

You can't help but sputter out incoherently, trying to form words in a response.

"B-bargaining tool?! What the hell do you mean by that?! I'm just an alien to you people, nothing more than that! I have no true value!"

The pony chuckles at what you said. "Nothing more than that? Your very presence here in this world is a _very_ big thing. You're the only one of your kind here to represent your species, one that comes from another world entirely, and being the only one of a species, one that's not of this world, that's something that many nations are keeping an eye out on."

"I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to get at. I don't see the importance in me. I mean, unlike my world, yours is covered in different species that are sapient, while mine only has one. What makes me so special other than the fact I'm not from this world?"

He tilts his head at you, clicking his tongue. "Princess Celestia didn't tell you about the species laws, did she?"

Okay, now you're confused. _There's species laws_? You thought everything lived in coexistence here.

"There's a lot to say about the species law, so I'll just give you a basic summary. It was made over seven hundred years ago when there was a lot of heavy tension between the different species going on. It was leading to a lot of conflicting issues from the griffins, minotaurs, and us ponies that it almost led to fights on many occasions. The law came into existence after Princess Celestia and the leaders of the griffins and minotaurs finally got together to write out a very extensive set of laws for interspecies relations."

"…And this has to do with me because…?"

The pony leans forward, giving you a fairly large grin. "It has _everything_ to do with you."

The pony goes on to explain some of the conflicts that went on between the three main species that led up to the laws being made. Some of those conflicts are starting up again for some reason, something about them trying to live amongst one another for the first time in ever, along with other things they're attempting.

"I still don't get what this has to do with me."

You're also curious why exactly this pony is saying so much when he could just stay quiet. Do they need your cooperation for something?

"Really? You _still_ don't get it?" He pauses, closing his eyes for a moment before looking back at you. "Whether or not you're from this world, you're still a being like anypony else. That means those laws also apply to you. Because you're in Equestrian lands, the princess has to make sure everything is set up for you since you're a singular being, an _endangered species, _so to speak."

You groan out, still not getting this.

"And the alien status just makes you all that more desirable. You see, with all the conflicting issues that have been going on between the different nations, taking you is an added weight on Celestia that she's already dealing with."

"So you think by kidnapping me, you can put pressure on the princess. Just why exactly are you even trying to do this?"

The pony raises an eyebrow at you.

"I had no idea that you're part goat, and a young one at that." You thump your head on the table, hard. "Regardless of that fact, the pressure is to show weakness in the princesses and her capabilities of keeping a foreign species safe. Soon, we should be able to show that only the ruler of the night should be kept in place and her alone."

So much of this isn't making sense to you. And from the looks of things, you've been kidnapped by a fanatical group vying for a different rule.

…Did you really get kidnapped by these idiotic ponies? You thump your head on the table with that thought swimming in your head.

"I can see you're finally coming to terms with what's happening."

_No, I'm not._

"Just cooperate with us, and things will turn out just fine."

_No, it won't._

Just how did you get yourself into this situation? You're hoping someone will come for you soon… except for Lyra and Bon Bon. You'd rather not see them mixed in this.

…Fuck. They're going to get mixed in this, aren't they?

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X~ Lyra's POV ~X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

The shaking of your sleeping cart jostles you about as you read through the copied documents once more. You're not sure how many times you've read it over, but it keeps your mind preoccupied. The six of you have been traveling for the past four hours, closing in on Mercanville. The other five have been resting up to be ready for when everypony gets there. You kept pushing the others to stay up to read the papers about the two rebel groups with you, but after the first hour, they decided to ignore you and get some rest.

Brushing your mane back, you let out a sigh as you look down at the papers. It only gives you a general area where they'd have Anon, and there are two groups to choose from as well. You're going to need to look around Mercanville with the others and search for info on this. With what goes on in this town, you should be able to purchase the info in the very least… hopefully…

The train shudders once more, this time with a muffled train whistle sounding out. Quickly after that, a knock can be heard at the door. It opens up, revealing a crew member in his uniform, looking at you.

"We will be arriving to our destination in no more than ten minutes, so be sure your group is ready to leave by then."

You give him a nod to what he said as he leaves. The others start stirring awake from the crew member's arrival, yawning and stretching awake.

"Did you wake us up to talk about those documents again," Vinyl asks, looking upset.

You hear a chorus of groans from that.

"No, I didn't. We have ten minutes until we're in Mercanville."

"Oh, thank Solaire!" Cloudchaser groans out, flapping her wings a few times before sitting up on her seat. "My wings are so sore! I need to get out of here and properly stretch them in the sky."

"Just make sure all our stuff is ready to go so we can get out and start looking for info."

"Wait, info?" Flitter asks. "I thought we had everything already."

"Flitter," Octavia speaks up, "we only have the area where the two groups are and where they'd have Anon should either had taken him. Now we have to ask around for where he could be."

"…Oh."

"How'd you forget that?" you ask, watching Flitter look away from you.

"S-sorry… I'm still sleepy…"

"Well wake up!" you shout out. "We can't be having anypony sleepy when there are important things to do! Anyways, we'll also need to stay in groups of two while asking around. This place is full of weird stuff, so who knows what may happen."

"Where should we meet up, and how long is this going to take?" Octavia asks while grabbing her case from the overhead compartment.

You rummage through your pack, grabbing your timepiece out. It's already closing in on five.

"We'll all meet back here at the train station in two hours' time to discuss what we found. Depending on what's found, we'll either leave or stay in town."

"Wouldn't it be better to stay?" Flitter asks. "I mean, I'd prefer staying here until the morning where we'd have a fresh start."

"If we can get the info today, there's no reason not to go out as soon as possible. The sooner we start going out, the sooner we can find Anon."

"I… I suppose that's true," Flitter answers back.

"Just don't get into any trouble while asking around, okay? And remember, this isn't a tourist stop! We're here to collect info then leave, got it!"

The train immediately starts to break, rocking you all side to side as the train starts to slow down for your stop. Grabbing your packs, you all exit the room and make your way off the train.

"Thank you for riding Monsieur Bones Fantastic Trip!" the crew member greets you off. "May you consider us for future rides, 'cause our train will forever run!"

You hold back a groan hearing that. You really dislike their slogan…

With the six of you off the train, you look around the place. The others seem very amazed by what they see. You've already been here before, so it's nothing new to you.

"Wow, this place looks so active!" Flitter says, looking at many of the ponies and other beings walking around.

"Lyra," Cloudchaser says, "I thought you said this place was for travelers to stop and pick up gear before traveling out into that forest. This looks like there's more than I'd expect from just travelers."

"This is a hub spot, not just for travelers, but for merchandise. A lot of trade goes on in this city, and most of what you see that's imported from the other nations goes through this town before it's transported to us, and the other way around."

"Oooh, that sounds really awesome," Cloudchaser says. "After we get Anon, I'm definitely looking around here."

A murmur of agreement comes from the other four as they continue staring out at all the commotion going on.

"Just remember to stick by who you're with and keep an eye on your pack. There are beings around here who would love nothing more than to take what you have. Also, you may need to pay for info, so try and be smart about how you get it."

"Wait," Flitter speaks up. "You didn't say who we'll be paired up with!"

"Oh, right. I nearly forgot about you two. Um…" You look at the Vinyl and Octavia, then Bon Bon, then back to the other two. "Flitter, you're coming with us. Cloudchaser, you're with them."

"W-why are you splitting us up?" Flitter asks grumpily. "I mean, we can totally handle things on our own," she says, grabbing Cloudchaser by her side in a one-sided hug.

"No, Lyra's right to having you both split between us," Octavia speaks up. "We'll have each type of pony with us, and neither of you have ever been outside of Ponyville, other than Cloudsdale. It's safer this way for all of us like this."

"They're right, Flitter," Cloudchaser says, slipping out of her sisters hug. "We shouldn't be wasting time right now arguing while we could be looking out for clues on where Anon's located."

Flitter looks at all of you before turning to Cloudchaser, who she sees walking over to Octavia and Vinyl.

"Are you really alright with this, Cloudy?"

"Sure. We'll be back together soon, right?"

Flitter flattens her ears against her head, letting out a small whine before walking over to you and Bon Bon.

"Okay," you say, grabbing out your timepiece from your saddlebag. "Everypony, be back here by the train station at seven o'clock so we can discuss on what we found. I'm hoping to be out of here as soon as we can, and have camp set up around ten to eleven after we make some headway into the forest."

"And if we can't find anything, we'll look around for an inn to stay until we look for more info," Bon Bon brings up, stepping beside you.

"W-where should we start?" Flitter asks nervously, watching some of the passing crowd walking by.

"This way," you say, taking your group from the train station.

They follow you down the road, passing by multiple pedestrians walking by. The further down, the more hustle and bustle you're all met with. On the way there, you keep telling everypony to not touch anything and to keep together over and over, making sure they'll remember. _They better not forget why we're here and get sidetracked…_

"We're here," you announce, stopping in your tracks.

"Th-this is a _really_ busy place," Flitter says, looking left and right.

Stands can be seen everywhere, showcasing different things for sale from different nations and kingdoms. You even see a few khajiits in the mix; that's quite surprising to see. There's an enormous amount of yelling and loud bartering going around, it's near deafening. Flitter scoots close into Bon Bon, warily looking at passers-by.

"I've always wanted to go here!" Vinyl says before letting out a chuckle. "There are so many neat things that pass by here that can be bought dirt cheap!"

You give her a small glare hearing that. "Hey! Don't forget why we're here!"

Vinyl clucks her tongue at you. "I know, I know… You don't need to be such a downer."

You ignore her words, turning to the others. "If you all don't realize it by now, this is the market. We should start our search for info here. There tends to be a few beings that have info for sell, just be careful."

"Yeah, yeah," Vinyl says, waving your words off. "We can handle things on our end, Lyra."

"Just don't get lost or wind up in trouble, okay?"

Vinyl gives you a cocky grin before waving you three off, taking Octavia and Cloudchaser down one of the roads. You look back at the other two, as they stare back.

"Right then," you say, walking up to Bon Bon. "We should go in the other direction and ask around."

"R-right!" Flitter yelps out, squeezing in between you and Bon Bon. "L-l-let's go!"

You and Bon Bon groan, both tilting your heads off to either side because of Flitter. This is going to be so troublesome, you just know it.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X~ Anon's POV ~X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"…Please tell me you're not serious?"

"What? Not up to your expectations?"

"I can't believe the alien is so picky about its food!"

"True to that, brother! Why, not every fine dish needs to use the greatest ingredients!"

"Th-that's not it…" you say, looking down at what was supposed to be your meal.

It's full of nothing but hay, mushed up in grains that you're assuming is oatmeal. It's still bubbling about, with what looks like crushed up daffodils and spinach. At least, you're hoping that's what it is.

"Oh? And what's wrong with your meal, eh?"

"This looks poisonous to me."

"P-POISONOUS!" Rocky screams out, backing off from the bars of your cell. He whips his head at Roller, pointing a hoof at him. "Y-you're trying to kill the alien?! I knew it!"

"WHAAAAT?!" Roller yells, jumping back from the accusation. "I did no such thing! I followed the recipe precisely as it was instructed!"

"Admit it! You didn't feed the alien last time to _starve it out,_ in an attempt to kill it! And now you're trying to poison it!"

"LIES! I did no such thing! And why would I want to kill it?!"

"Because you're jealous it'll have all _my_ attention!"

"Whoa! Hold on there, I just said this _looks_ poisonous, so don't jump to conclusions!" You pick up a piece of the slick hay from the bubbling oats. "I can't eat hay and other things you ponies can!"

The two whip their heads, glaring hotly at you.

"So you're trying to make us fight with one another?!

"See, brother?! He's trying to break us apart! Oooh, I be it's got some nefarious scheme rolling around in its head, trying to use you for its evil deeds!"

"What a horrible thing to do! This alien is indeed evil!"

"Uuuuugh," you groan out, leaning your head against the bars. "…Look, I can't eat what you ponies can! I'm a completely different species from you!"

"So? Minotaurs are a different species, and they can eat just about everything we can too!"

"I'm also not from this world, remember? As in an _alien_?"

"…So?"

You thump your head on the metal bars once more as your stomach rumbles out, crying for food.

"You really shouldn't be so picky."

"I'm not! I can't eat this fucking hay or the damn daffodils! And my palate would just make me throw up what looks like a mixture of spinach and oats!"

"…It's actually grass and oats."

You let out another groan, sliding off the bars of the cell and onto your ass, sitting on the ground. The doors can be heard slamming open.

"What's with all this screaming!" you hear being yelled at the Rocky and Roller.

The two stand still, looking at a pony coming in. It's the same one that escorted you to the pony that ordered you to be taken here. He looks down at the still bubbling bowl of horrid food, then at you.

"What is this?"

"…They're trying to feed me this."

The pony stares at you for a few moments before turning on the other two. "The alien can't eat this! Did you not read up on the info that was given to you when handling it?!"

"W-we may have lost them."

"Y-yeah, so we improvised and served him some of our mothers cookin'!"

"The alien doesn't seem to like it…"

The still unnamed pony looks at the two, glaring at them. "You are to give the alien proper food, not whatever in tartarus this is! Now, go find those papers, read them over, and get it some proper food!"

The two hastily salute the pony, running out of the room, taking the bowl of poisonous mush with them. Now it's just you… and the pony, who is staring at you… And still staring after what you think is five minutes. Observing the pony, you don't see anything to distinguish it from any other pony, other than its Crayola colors: this one's a dark blue and white mane. It's almost unnerving how he stands still, staring at you without moving beside a barely noticeable blink.

"So…"

You're not sure of what to exactly say. Maybe you should try asking about why they thought taking you would accomplish anything. They weren't clear at all when they tried to explain it to you. You're not sure why they were even discussing that with you, but you're not going to argue on them giving you info freely.

Just as you're about to ask him something, the room shudders about. Dust falls from the ceiling as you see little flashes of light coming from the barred window on the back wall. Curious, especially since this other pony seems slightly nervous and unwilling to talk, you walk over to the bars. You should be able to make it up there if you reach. You have to get on your tippy-toes just to get to the bars.

As you're about to see outside by pulling yourself up, your head gets shoved back down from a hoof. The guard pony seems to have come into the cell and shoved you to the ground as a bright flash of light hits the bars. He's pretty damn quick in opening up that cell.

"Stay down!" the pony says, shoving your body further down until you're sitting on the ground.

You nearly got hit by a beam of green light. It zips past where you had your head and onto the far wall, a fizzle of colors sparkling about. He goes back over to the door of the cell and bends down, staring at the entrance to the room. It looks like he's ready to attack whatever goes through that door any moment.

The room continues to shake about as the barred window flashes lights over and over with a multitude of colors. You keep your head down as told, not wanting to be blasted by a stray beam. There's an enormous amount of yelling going on as well, though it's muffled from behind the wall.

"What the hell's happening?!"

"Isn't it obvious?! We're being attacked, so just stay down!"

Okay, so this isn't their doing. _Wait, did someone come for me? Maybe that's what all this blasting is! _Of course… you could be wrong and it's some horrible creature from the forest you're in.

Looking over at the pony that's watching the door, you think about your options. You can probably run up to him and knock him out before he can react and get out of here. You're generally stronger than ponies so long as it's one on one, so it shouldn't be that difficult. Though… that might be bad idea for the time being since you have no idea where you are or where to go when you leave. You're not even sure if this is the Everfree Forest or not. You'll just need to wait until you can get enough info so you're better prepared on where to go.

The rumbling continues on for a good while, kicking up dirt and flashes of light sparkling about from the barred window, until it slowly starts to die down… then silence. It stays like this for a good while, neither of you moving, the only sounds being heard being the two of you breathing.

Finally, after what felt like forever, you can hear the clicking of hooves from the other side of the door. You're surprised by how well you can hear it. The door creaks open, forcing the other pony into getting ready to attack whoever's opening it. He immediately relaxes, seeing the pony in charge walking in.

"Sir," the pony guarding you says with a salute, "was it the beasts of Dourness, or the day ponies again?"

_Day ponies? Beasts of Dourness?_

"Sadly, it was the day ponies this time around. Their attacks are starting to wear down on our ponies."

"It's strange, Colibri. They only attacked whenever we went out for supplies, but why now?"

"It seems that they somehow found out we have the alien, Liberum." The now named Liberum grunts hearing that, looking over to you. "All we can do for now is hold out and wait until the commander comes back with additional troops."

"Hold up, day ponies?" you question. "There's more ponies out here? And what do you mean by 'beasts of Dourness'?"

"Be quiet, alien," Liberum says in a glare.

Colibri holds a hoof up, silencing Liberum. He turns to you, staring at you for a few moments before speaking.

"There is another group that opposes what we seek, wanting Celestia over Luna. Don't think they'll help you leave this place; they'll gladly take you just as we are for their own purposes. And unlike us, they'll not be as kind as we are being. Now, Liberum," Colibri says, forcing the other pony to stand up straighter, "since everything here seems fine, I'll leave him here to you watch. Though, I do wonder why exactly you are here."

"The R&R brothers didn't follow their instructions properly… again. They went out to gather proper food for the alien while I stayed to watch it."

"I see. It's-" he immediately stops speaking, just remembering you're there, listening. "We shall discuss this later on. Continue as you were."

Before you could actually try to talk to him once more, Colibri leaves the room. Liberum looks at you, letting out a huff of air. Only a few minutes later do the other two guards finally return, panting hard while carrying things with them.

"S-sorry we couldn't be here sooner," Rocky says.

"Yeah, s-same here," Roller adds in. "We were helping with what was happening, so it took a while to get here."

"So long as you got proper food, I could care less at the moment." He scrunches his face, looking at the blanket they brought as well. "You forgot beddings as well?" He asks, grinding his teeth together.

"We m-"

"Don't, just… give it the darn food and beddings. I expect you to _not_ be this forgettable in the future."

"Yes, definitely!"

"Of course!"

"Good," Liberum says, walking past them. "Go back to your duties then," he grunts out, leaving the room.

"…He doesn't seem to be in a very good mood," Roller says with a sigh.

"Is he ever?"

Roller walks over to you and gives you a long overdue plate of food. Aaaand surprise… its full of eggs and bread, with a cup of water. _Of-fucking-course_, you think, grabbing the eggs and placing them on the bread. _They could've at least given me a fork._

There's a thump beside you, picking up some dirt. Looking over, you notice they finally gave you a blanket. _At least now I have something to lie on._ Eating your now made up egg sandwich, you watch the two bicker back and forth, talking about things you more than likely shouldn't be listening to. At least you're getting some info listening to them, though it's mostly just about what went on only moments ago with the previous attack.

…Maybe you can ask them about some things?

"So, who exactly _are_ the day ponies?" you ask, taking a sip from your cup.

"You don't know who they are?!" Roller asks in astonishment.

"Of course the alien wouldn't, why would you even ask that?"

"So maybe you can fill me on who they are, and where I am exactly."

"You don't know where you are?!" Rocky asks in amazement.

You can't help but groan at their reactions, and the idiocy accompanied with it.

"Well," Roller starts, "those day ponies just think that they're better than we are, so they want to pick a fight with us!"

"Stupid jerks, they even foalnap some of our own! Can you believe that?! Who would do such a thing?!"

You give the two of them a deadpan stare. Neither of them seems to notice.

" We only managed to get a few of ours back," Roller continues on, "and it turns out they're taking us to learn more about our plans. We have to continuously change our patterns because they keep managing to dig through their brains for info, which _totally_ sucks!"

…And now you want to make sure to stay the fuck away from the day ponies for that reason alone.

"Of course, they're just as annoying as the beasts of Dourness. Stupid things just don't know when to give up!"

"Why do you have to deal with beasts?" you ask, taking a bite of your sandwich once more. "And why are they called that?"

"As for why they're called that," Roller says, "it's because this forest is called The Forest of Dourness. It's an appropriate name for where we are. And we're not sure why they keep coming. This entire forest is full of strange creatures, and we have no idea how to keep them away!"

"They seem to be attracted to something, but we have no idea what that is. Roller here thinks it's the food. I think they're just jerks."

"So, you night ponies have to deal with the day ponies and the beasts here," you say, finishing your meal. "I don't know about you two, but it doesn't feel like it's worth the effort of getting what you want, going through all this."

"First off, we're not called night ponies. That's just what we're called by the day ponies."

"Hay, we don't even know what the day ponies true name is, but we need to identify them some way, so we call them that!"

"And what exactly do you call yourselves then?"

"Colibri and the commander don't want to give us a name, saying that doing so would give us a face or something like that. I think that's stupid, we already _have_ faces!"

"I agree. That's why we're trying to get them to change it so we can have a name!"

Before you could properly react, the two of them move side to side in front of you in poses.

"Luna Bom-ba-stic!"

"We Fan-ta-stic!"

"OOOOOOOHHHHHH!" they scream in unison, waving a hoof in the air while doing so.

_Oh good god! Could they be any more annoying?! Seriously, why are they guards for these ponies?!_

"Because they were looking for volunteers, and we were down with what they want!"

…You must've accidentally said that last part out loud.

"And what exactly do they want?"

"Well, they want to bring Luna into rule! And that means eternal night!" Roller says enthusiastically.

"And that means eternal partying!" Rocky adds in. "Seriously, that would be so great! All the music, the food-"

"And don't forget the mares!"

The two nod at that, flaring their nostrils and exhaling air through them.

"That's what made you two join up? Those are the reasons that got you to work with these ponies?"

The two nod their heads up and down quickly with large smiles.

"Totally!" Rocky says with enthusiasm. "And if you're nice and cooperate with us… I'm certain we can also get some mares for you!"

Aaaand they flare their nostrils once more as another gush of air come out of them.

"…Do you two really believe that's going to happen?"

They nod their heads once again.

"…You two are idiots."

"Whoa, there," Roller says, getting close to the bars with an angry expression. "What gives you the right to call us that?!"

"Yeah, what he said! Partying is bucking awesome, so respect it!"

"You know what? I don't think he deserves any mares…"

You can't help but scoff at them. "A fairly selfish reason for all of this, considering what every single one of you will have to go through afterwards."

"…What do you mean?"

"Do you really think what you want's not going to come without consequences?"

"Consequences?" Roller says. "Well, sure. There's going to be a lot of hangovers on salt and eventually, we'll probably have to settle down with a mare."

"It'll be hard with all the night, but I think we can manage."

"Seriously, you two didn't think this out, did you?"

The two of them only manage to give you blank stares.

"Surely you understand that by having eternal night, there are so many things that'll go wrong. For one, you can't grow food without the sun. Magic may go a long way, but it's not something that can fix everything. Within a month or two, I can see all the food being used up. Mass starvation goes on, and before long, everyone starts dropping down dead from hunger. Of course, this isn't including other things that can go wrong as well, such as anarchy, crime rates going up, or how nearly every being on this planet is not built for nocturnal habits."

The two of them look at you like you just kicked their pet puppy. You can only raise an eyebrow at them.

"What? You didn't think that it'd really be parties every day? Oh, wait, there's no day, so I guess it'd be every night? Regardless of that, if your group somehow manages to actually make this work," which you doubt so fucking much they will, "you'll have to live with the fact that you were a part of making this all happen."

"W-wait," Rocky chips in. "Couldn't the unicorns help with making all the food?"

"Yeah! That would solve everything!"

"Did you not hear what I just said? Magic's good for a lot of things, but it can't solve everything. And would you really force unicorns into slavery to make food for you all? That's what the two of you want?"

_It's like they never even thought this through at all_, you think, as you stare at them looking down at the ground.

"Maybe you two should think more on this… Here," you say, placing the plate and cup on the other side of the bars. "Thanks for the meal. I hope you know I need to eat more than once a day."

Roller grabs the plate and cup before looking at his brother, then walking out the door. Rocky sighs to himself, walking a little ways off to stand guard further back. _They must've suckered these two, and probably a few others, into thinking things will be alright before joining_, you think as you stand up, picking up your blanket. It's not bad, it actually feels fairly comfortable. Taking it over in a corner, you spread it out before lying down.

You stare up at the ceiling in thought, wondering how you're going to get out of this place. You just need some more info and the perfect opportunity before you attempt to leave.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X~ Lyra's POV ~X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

It's been nearly an hour and a half, and so far, you have nothing to show for it. Even when offered bits, no one here knows much about the rebels, and the few you think do won't talk. You're getting frustrated, having to deal with this. Maybe you should've waited until Twilight got more info before coming out…

You've talked to some of the bars around the place, and the few informants that usually have info that you personally knew, but nothing came up. Either they'd rather keep quiet about the rebel groups for fear of what might happen, or the group is just that well hidden.

As of now, you're info searching led you to another very strange place. The three of you stand outside a fairly small tent located near the entrance to the forest.

"So this is the place?" Bon Bon asks. "This thing's really out of place with all these stands around here."

"It's what the diamond dog told me," Flitter says, hovering in the air. "She said that if anypony could help, it'd be this being. She's supposed to be very informed in just about everything, and not just around here, but _much_ more!"

"Just wait out here while I go talk to this being."

"What are we supposed to do while you talk?" Flitter asks, landing on the ground and scratching her hooves in the ground.

You let out a sigh. "I don't know, ask around these other stands I suppose. I doubt they'll have the info, but maybe one of them saw something."

"Right!" Flitter says, saluting you before flying off to one of them.

Bon Bon gives you a nod before turning towards Flitter and walking to her. You turn around and head inside the small tent, hoping to find something useful.

Inside, you're met with a lot of candles lit all over the ground, a strong smell of incense burning, and tapestry hanging everywhere. The thing that sticks out the most is a table in the middle of the tent, with two chairs… and a crystal ball. And in one of the chairs sits a very bright, yellow pony, garbed in very colorful clothing.

"I see I have a visitor! Please, come and take a seat and I shall help you to the best of my abilities."

… You didn't expect this to be a fortune teller. Looks can be deceiving though, so she may have the something to tell you about the rebels.

"I was told that you may have some info that I'm looking for?" you ask her, just as you're taking off your pack and sitting down in the seat.

"Yes, every being that comes to Mademoiselle Tshilaba seeks for something they yearn to find, to know more about." She leans over, tilting her head down while continuing her stare at you. "Just what is it you are seeking that I may help with?"

Reaching down beside your seat, you dig through your pack and find your bits. You take ten out, placing them on the table, and push them towards her.

"I'm looking for a friend. He's an alien that was just recently abducted from one of the rebel groups. I just want to know which one, along with any other info you can give me."

"Hmm… Well, I don't think my cards will work for this session, but maybe the crystal ball will give insight to what you are looking for."

You rub your forehead, trying not to get too upset. _This… she's just a darn fortune teller_! Before you can get up and leave, the crystal ball immediately starts to glow. Curiosity getting the better of you, you bend over and look into the ball. Your eyes widen when you see images of Anon in it.

You also see images of Bon Bon and yourself as they pop up randomly in different ways. Some of them are of the three of you smiling, crying, angered, happy, or other things you can't make out for some reason.

"W-what is this?"

"This is all the potential outcomes of your life that you are seeing. They are only glimpses, mind you, but if you have the proper training much like myself, you can put areas together and tell a story."

"A story? About what?"

"The story of life… and all that is possible," she replies, waving a hoof over the crystal ball. "Anything can be done with a hint of magic."

"How exactly is something like that possible? You're not a unicorn, so that doesn't make sense!"

"Not all magic's involve the medium of a horn, Miss Heartstrings."

"H-how do you know my name?!"

She only lets out a small smile as she gazes into her ball. You do the same as images continue to flash by.

"Hmm… Well, this is odd. From what I'm seeing, your life is constantly moving around, along with two others."

_She must be referring to Bon Bon and Anon_, you think, staring down at the crystal ball.

"What happens in the next few days will determine what roads your life goes down. I would advise you to think carefully on any action you partake when it comes to these two."

The ball starts to grow darker as the images disperse into nothing. You blink a few times, staring at the ball, not sure what to say.

"…Wait, that's it?" you ask, getting aggravated. "What about any info on where Anon is! Or-or…"

"I'm sorry to say, but this is all I can provide for you. Unless you can get me the one that will be the major factor in your lives, this being that you call Anon, I cannot help you any further."

Your grinding your teeth, feeling a lot of anger at the moment. _She wasn't helpful at all! Darn it, Flitter!_

Walking out unhappy from still not finding any info, you look around for Flitter and Bon Bon so you can head back to the train stop. You quickly find them looking at some of the wares from a stand. You frown, seeing this.

"Okay, seriously?" you sharply ask, startling them. "We're not here to go shopping; we're here to look for info!"

"And Flitter and I already did just that," Bon Bon says, walking up to you. "None of the beings here have anything to say, so we decided to look around and see what they had while we waited for you."

You grit your teeth hearing that, still upset. "None of them saw anything at night?"

"No, even though they're so close to the forest, they close up shop earlier than the other stands."

You let out a sigh, unable to find anything else to argue about. "Let's just get out of here. We've got…" You pause, looking into your bag for the time. "…About sixteen minutes until we meet the others back at the meeting spot. FLITTER!" you call out.

The mare squeaks from being startled, nearly dropping some wares she's looking at. Placing down something from her hooves, she walks over with her ears flattened on her head.

"There's no reason to be loud, Lyra," Bon Bon says with a frown.

You let out a humph before walking off towards the meet up spot with the other two in tow. They keep up with you as you quickly move around the stands and other beings trying to sell their merch to you, only stopping a few times to check back on them to make sure they stayed with you.

Arriving at the train stop, you don't see the train there any longer, and the crowds from before are gone with night coming. The other three are also not there.

"Looks like we'll be waiting for a little while until they get here," Flitter says, taking a seat from a bench.

You're not exactly happy with waiting. You sit in a separate bench, looking at the documents again while trying to figure out where the six of you should stay for the night. Almost a half hour goes by before you eventually see your three missing companions coming up to you. You quickly pack up before walking up to them, noticing their much disheveled appearance.

"What took you three so long to get here?" you ask, very upset at them not being punctual. "You're late!"

"We were held up by something… unexpected," Octavia says, trying to get her mane back into place.

"So?" Bon Bon asks, walking up to them. "Find any info?"

Vinyl smirks before letting out a chuckle. "We sure did! We know exactly what group took him!"

"H-how in the _hay_ did you find any info?!" you ask in surprise.

"It almost sounds like you didn't expect us to find anything at all," Cloudchaser says with a pout.

"Well… we got our info from a local minotaur that just so happens to know about the two rebel groups that reside in the forest."

"You make it out like there's more to it than that," Flitter says, hovering beside Cloudchaser. "How'd the minotaur get that info?"

"That's not important right now, just tells us so we can leave!" you spout out impatiently.

Vinyl tsks at your words, taking a few steps back. "No need to be rude about it, Lyra. And we found it after we beat the crap out of his gang."

"…You what?" Bon Bon asks, blinking at her.

"Some rather unruly ponies and minotaurs decided to have a few unkind words with us," Octavia says, trying to put her bow back into place. "Vinyl and Cloudchaser here had some… equally rude words to give back to them. Long story short, it wound up in a fight-"

"That we _totally_ do-mi-na-ted!" Cloudchaser says, throwing a few punches in the air. "Guess they didn't know that I'm just that awesome in a fight! Sorta wish you were there, Flitter, so we could've had a good ol' tag team match down!"

Flitter lets out a giggle, watching her sister continuing to throw punches in the air.

"Anyways," Vinyl says with a chuckle, "the gang leader saw how we completely trounced his posse of lunkheads and said our awesome awesomeitude of awesomeness was so impressive, he said he'd make sure not to mess with us again and that he'd help whenever possible. Pretty cool dude in the end."

"Yeah, sure, so what did he tell you?" you ask.

Vinyl lets out a sigh before continuing. "Well, just so you know, his gang watches out for the rebels to keep tabs on them. Said he wanted to make sure they wouldn't try anything on his turf. He also said that his gang was roaming around late at night the other day when they noticed somepony going into the forest near the break of dawn with something large, like a minotaur but with a lot of clothing. I'm assuming that's Anon they're talking about."

You let out a loud groan, getting somewhat irritated. "I want to know what group took him!"

"Sheesh, no need to be so grumpy about it. Anyways, he noticed that they took a route he called the dark way. That leads to the night rebels that roam over there."

"Show me on the map," you tell her, taking out your map and giving it to Vinyl.

She points out to where this dark trail is located. You notice that its true name is shrouded leaves trail. At least now you know exactly where Anon's going to be.

"Alright then," you say loud enough to get their attention. "We should probably start going, now that we know where to go get Anon."

"C-can't we wait until tomorrow morning?" Flitter asks, hugging close to her sister. "It's really starting to get dark…"

"No, we can't," you reply. "We need to get a head start, getting to Anon. Who knows what's happening to him?"

They all look at one another before turning back to you with a nod. Good, nopony to argue with you. After checking over everypony's packs to make sure they have everything, the six of you start back to those stands over by the entrance to the forest. Arriving there, you notice that not a single stand is up, only leaving imprints to where they used to be on the ground.

"They're fast if they can pack up THIS quick!" Flitter says, looking around.

"Who's fast?" Cloudchaser asks, hovering in front of her sister.

"Oh, right, we didn't tell you. We were over here by the stands and they said when it gets dark enough, they pack up away from the forest."

"That… doesn't fill me with confidence when we're about to go in ourselves. But I'm certain we'll do well so long as we stick together!"

"Look, let's just stop stalling and actually go in, okay?"

"Seesh, Lyra," Vinyl says, "what's got you all riled up?"

"We should be moving when we're talking is what I'm all riled up about! Now come on, we need to cover as much ground as possible!"

You start walking towards the forest entrance that leads you towards shrouded leaves trail. The rest soon follow after you without saying a word. _See, that's much better_, you think to yourself as the six of you go through the trail.

Walking through the Forest of Dourness reminds you a lot of the Everfree Forest. You remember getting packets describing some of the creatures here, and they're what you'd expect from the Everfree… Well, except that much of Dourness hasn't been explored in so long, so who knows what else is in here.

The further you walk, the bigger the trees start to get. It's starting to get fairly dark, but luckily, it seems to be a bright night out tonight. The sounds of the forest animals start to get louder as the six of you venture further down the path. You have to continuously tell the other five to stop talking so you could better concentrate on where you all are going.

"Lyra, seriously, take a chill pill," Vinyl says after your eighth time of telling them to be quiet. "We've only been out here for around an hour, and you're already gettin' on everyponies nerves."

"Well I would if you'd all just shut up so I can concentrate!"

"We're not even that loud, Lyra! And what are you concentrating on, exactly?"

"Where we're going!"

"Lyra… we're on a path we can all see. You even told us on the train we need to get to the end of it before moving into the forest, so I don't see why you're making everypony here all stressed out."

"I've been doing no such thing!"

"You've been doing it ever since we boarded the train!" Cloudchaser angrily says. "You were nitpicking on anything we did while telling us the same things over and over and OVER again on how we need to find Anon! We know already, so settle down already!"

"Look, I just want us to be fully serious for this! Anon's in trouble and I just have to make sure that we don't lose focus of-"

Something quickly slaps across your face, forcing you to stop talking. You blink a few times, wondering what just happened. Looking at everypony, you notice that Octavia now has a strange looking cello vibrating lightning sparks and a bow notched inside the strings. You go to talk once more, but the bow quickly shoots forward, hitting you once more.

"Lyra… shut up."

"O-Octavia! W-what the buck a-"

She already has another bow notched in her strings, aimed at you. You quickly close your mouth, knowing this next one would actually hurt if she released it.

"…That's better. Now, I'm going to say my bit, and then you can reply in a rational and calm manner. Do you understand this?"

You slowly nod your head at her.

"Good. Now, what you've been doing, I can understand it. You're worried about Anon, and the sooner we get to him, the better. But you're acting way out of line, Lyra. You need to understand that you're stressing us all out. Do you really think that by yelling at us, ordering us about like you've been doing, that's really the best course of action to take?"

You look at the other four as they stare back, clearly upset about what you've been doing.

"Lyra," Vinyl says, forcing your attention towards her. "You need to calm down. Like, a lot. We don't need you killing our mood all the time. We may be out to go find Anon, but you're literally sucking out the good mojo we have going. We're jovial beings by nature, Lyra, and you seem to be forgetting that."

Looking at the other five once more, you see them nod in agreement. Thinking back on some of the things, you _may_ have gotten a little overboard.

"Uh, I…" You let out a sigh before looking back at them. "I'm sorry. I guess I was acting a bit stupid."

Cloudchaser flies over to you, grabbing you in a side hug. "Hey, it's totally cool so long as we can get you to stop acting all nuts on us."

"R-right."

Everypony gives you a smile, which you chuckle nervously at. And it seems Octavia already has her cello packed away. It's so strange how she can do that so quickly.

"So Lyra," Vinyl says, "now that you're not going to chew us out for something silly, what's next?"

You blink at her, nudging a hoof to the trail. "We continue down the trail like I said on the train, remember?"

"…Oh, right."

She lets out a chuckle as she readjusts the straps on her pack before walking past you. You shake your head, unable to hold your smile as you head up the trail.

"How much longer until we get to the end, Lyra?" Flitter asks before letting out a yawn. "I'm getting tired and I wouldn't mind if we could try to set camp up before we venture from the trail."

You turn your head back, noticing they're all staring at you. Levitating your map out from your saddlebag, you flash your horn up so you can see the map.

"From what I'm seeing, up ahead is the marker on the map called Sapient Rock. After we get to that, it's just another hour until we get to the end of the trail where most beings set up camp. That's the safe point for most everypony before going out into the forest." Closing your map, you place it back into your saddlebag. "So I guess we'll set up camp for the night there before waking up and heading out."

"Thank goodness," Flitter says with a groan. "I'm really tired from all this moving around."

"We've been moving on this trail for well over an hour, maybe even two," Bon Bon says. "I think we can all do with some rest as soon as possible so we'll be fresh in the morning."

A murmur of agreement comes from the six of you as you all continue further down the path.

It doesn't take long until you start walking past a gathering of rocks on the trail.

"This is the Sapient Rock marker?" Vinyl asks. "It's not very impressive, is it? It's just a bunch of rocks and boulders."

"Yeah, but at least we know there's only another hour of walking until we get to the camp."

"YOO-HOOO~"

The six of you jump from hearing the very loud and high pitched voice coming from nowhere. It sounds like a guy trying to sound like a girl…

"W-who said that!" Flitter yelps out.

"Well isn't that just rude of you six. You just gonna leave little ol' me without a proper talk? I mean, it gets _sooooo_ lonely out here all alone!"

The six of you slowly turn your heads back to the gathering of rocks, ears flattened against your heads as none of you notice any movement.

"…Is… Is that a rock speaking?" Cloudchaser asks.

"I don't know," Bon Bon replies.

"Where are my manners!" it speaks out once more, making everypony look around for the voice. "Everyone seems to call me Sapient, but you can all just call me Sappy, 'cause I'm _soooo_ sappy for the wilderness! Hehehehehe," it chuckles out, a small rumbling coming from one of the bigger rocks.

You all turn your sights to that one rock that moved.

"H-how are you speaking?" Octavia asks.

"Why, by doing so, of course. How else would one speak?"

Octavia opens and closes her mouth multiple times, unable to respond back.

"Um… Sappy, was it?" you ask.

"Yes, that is I! And who might you be my small equine?"

"L-Lyra."

"And what a lyrically wonderful name that is, Lyra! How are you doing this fine evening?"

"Just fine, Sappy…" You look back at the others as they continue to stare at the rock in awe. "Um… not to sound rude, but we really have to be going."

"But I would really love some company out in this forest, my dear Lyra. It ever gets so dreary having to entertain myself all the time."

"I can imagine," you mutter to yourself. "We all would love to chat, but we need to cover a lot of ground if we're to help our friend that's out in the forest."

You hear a very loud gasp, obviously coming from Sappy. "My WORD! Your friend's out here in the forest, all alone?! Why, I'm ever so glad that someone is as good of a friend as you to venture out into this vile forest! You best be on your way, Miss Lyra. Go, go! I won't hold you up any longer!"

"…Okay then?" you speak back, returning to your friends.

The six of you immediately quicken your pace down the road, trying to get as far away from that rock as quickly as possible.

"Okay, what was up with that?" Vinyl asks after you all got far enough away.

"I have no idea. From my reports, strange things have gone in this forest that hasn't been able to be explained in any way, so I'm just guessing that's one of those things."

"Who thought we'd meet a talking rock out here?" Cloudchaser says, looking over her shoulder back where the rock is. "What's next? Talking trees?"

"Actually, Twilight sort of made one back in Ponyville," you state with a roll of your eyes, "remember?"

Flitter lets out a giggle, followed by her sister, then everypony else. The absurdity of what just happened seems to have left you all in a better mood.

"If things like that are what's in this forest, I'm all up for exploring this more!" Vinyl says with a cheer.

"But first, some rest," Octavia says with a yawn.

For the rest of the trip, the six of you talk back and forth, pointing things out that you pass or just talking about anything. With all the talking going on, none of you even realize the time passing by as you make it to the end of the trail. The place is fairly flat, and even has a place for a campfire and several logs for sitting.

"Score!" Vinyl squeals out, running over to a log and placing her rather large pack beside it. "Now all we need is some wood and we can get a good fire going!"

"Don't worry, Flitter and I will get that in a jiff!" Cloudchaser says before grabbing her sister and flying off.

"It doesn't look like it's going to rain, so at least we'll be dry," Octavia says while unpacking her gear. "I can at least readjust my strings, just in case we meet any resistance."

"While you're doing that," Vinyl says with a grunt, placing her… whatever that is she brought with her on the ground, "I'm going to mess around with this and configure it with some of the new jivin' music that Anon set me up with!"

"Please, Vinyl, no music right now."

"Eehhh… fine, I'll need to save some of my juicy lightning for the time being anyways. I'll just plug in my heads… as soon as I can find them."

Looking over to your right, you see Bon Bon's already zipping all over the place.

"Putting down your traps, Bon Bon?" you ask, placing down your sleeping bag.

"Just some things to warn us if we get visitors trying to be sneaky…"

You can't help but flinch, knowing what she's putting up. Her warning traps are still really painful, especially the lightning infused ones.

Flitter and Cloudchaser return just as Bonnie finishes setting up her traps, with Cloudchaser dropping a lot of wood into the pit and Flitter dropping her pile beside it.

"There! We got plenty of firewood, so now all we need is some fire!"

You flash your horn up, throwing a beam into the wood. It immediately erupts into flames, forcing the two sisters to back up.

"Alright! Now we just need to get ready to turn in!" Cloudchaser says, grabbing her pack and finding a place to set it up. Flitter follows Cloudchaser, setting up her sleeping bag beside her.

"Since we're out in these woods by ourselves," you say, sitting down on your bag, "we'll need one of us to stay awake and watch out for things, like the creatures out here or the rebels. I'll take first watch."

""I'll take second watch," Octavia says, still messing with her cello. "I don't really need a lot of sleep, so I'll take it."

"We'll be having two watches each night. Flitter and Vinyl can take tomorrow, with Bon Bon and Cloudchaser the next, and we just rotate it like that."

Everypony agrees before going back to their packs.

"So…" Flitter says while smoothing out her bag, "when we get Anon back, what then?"

"I think it's pretty obvious that we bring him back to Mercanville and make sure he's checked over medically," Octavia replies, still tinkering away at her cello.

"I can't wait till he's back! I've got so many tunes I want to listen to with him!"

"And I still have something I wanted to say to him… before he was taken," you tell more to yourself, looking at the ground.

Vinyl furrows her brow hearing that. She takes her headphones off her head and places them down, shaking her mane before getting up.

"I need to go use the bush for a moment. Bon Bon, why don't you come with me? I don't want to be left alone out in the dark."

Bon Bon blinks for a few moments before scrunching up her nose. Getting up, she follows Vinyl out into the trees. After making sure you're ready for your watch, you immediately rummage around your pack, noticing a good opportunity just presented itself. You find what you're looking for, taking it, wrapping it in your toiletries, and walking towards the bushes.

"Lyra, where you going?" Octavia asks from her place by the campfire.

"I just… need to use the bush too! Be right back!"

"Just don't step on Bon Bon's traps. Oh, and don't go too far!" she replies back as you exit from sight.

You're already familiar with these traps, so it doesn't take you long to get around them. After walking far enough from the others, you immediately head to where the other two went. It doesn't take long for you to find them; a smirk appears on your face as you bend down to the ground and open up your pack. Inside is your usual toiletry, but you also put something special inside: your trusty sound cracker. It even still has the dragon roar in it.

_I better turn down the volume_, you think, not wanting to attract everything else around. Holding back a chuckle, you stealthily make your way over to where Bon Bon and Vinyl is. _This is going to be so funny when I unleash this_! you think, unable to hold a smile back. _They wanted me to relax more_, _so let's have a little fun with them!_

Sneaking through the bushes, you finally spot the very familiar curls of Bon Bon poking over some leaves. That's strange… it sounds like they're arguing with one another. Did something go wrong? Getting as close as you can, you squat down, holding your sound cracker as you listen in.

"I don't know, Bon Bon. You _still_ haven't told Lyra about any of this."

"I know, I just… you know I have difficulty with these things."

You can see Vinyl shaking her head at Bon Bon. "I just don't know why you decided to get so close to Anon."

"I know it's strange, but… I feel like he could help me with this. I don't mean to sound selfish, but I just wanted to have everything turn out where I can be happy too. Is it really so wrong of me to have feelings for him?"

"Did you really have to wait this long though? An entire month, Bon Bon. You got lucky Lyra didn't admit anything to Anon yet or-"

"I know! I… I know. I didn't want to take this long, but I just wanted to make sure my feelings were genuine and not just something that I forced onto myself."

"And are they?"

"…Yes."

Vinyl stares at Bon Bon for a few moments in thought. "Just remember, you need to say something, and soon, or else this might turn out bad for everypony involved."

"Now that you're done lecturing me, can we go back?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm certain Octavia's wondering what to do without my awesome presence around."

"Aren't we all?" Bon Bon sarcastically replies with a roll of her eyes.

The two of them chuckle before walking away, back to the camp. You're left there, staring at where they left, completely floored from what you just heard.

"Bon Bon… likes Anon too?"

You're mind's completely blank, trying to find something to make sense of this but coming up with nothing. Looking down at your sound cracker, you place it back into your pack and return to camp with a small frown, a confused mind, and a painful tug on your heart.

~End Chapter Sixteen~


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